Updated Thursday, 12/4/2025
On Wednesday evening, December 3, 2025 the Westchester County Board of Legislators will hold a public hearing on its 2026 budget, including nearly $11 million dollar plan to expand the roadway, parking area and park facility in Marchlands Conservancy, a 147 acre wildlife gem and by the authority of its own friends advocacy group “the largest remaining salt marsh of its kind in Westchester County”. The Marshlands sits between the Boston Post Road and Milton Harbor, and shares borders with the Jay Heritage Center, the Greenhaven residential area of Rye, the Rye Golf Club, the 13.5 acre Lounsberry estate controlled by David Parsons and the Jay Family Cemetery, controlled by decedents of Founding Father John Jay. None of the aforementioned parties have been consulted on this current move by Westchester County.
In a letter to MyRye.com, Suzanne Clary, the president of the Jay Heritage Center, warns of a “$10.845 million unvetted proposal for dewatering the Marshlands, trenching to 5-foot depths, clearcutting, paving, demolition and construction… [that will] irreversibly harm established wildlife habitats, crush important Indigenous and African American artifacts that have lain undisturbed for centuries, and endanger the watershed of both our parks which are connected by natural watercourses and thousands of years of history” and that all of this “may not be culturally, environmentally, or legally appropriate”.
UPDATED: In a statement Thursday, Catherine Cioffi, communications director for Westchester County rejected the concerns in Clary’s letter and said: “We are replacing an aging nature center so we can meet industry best practices and better serve the number of visitors who are already enjoying the Marshlands Conservancy. This is not a plan to bring in thousands of people or host weddings. Our goal is simply to build a welcoming, modern facility for families and children to enjoy. We are still in the concept stage—not the design phase—and the appropriations referenced are not new. This is an historic property and as always we are committed to prioritizing natural resources and historical treasures. We know this is an historic property and are committing resources to adequately preserve it.”
MyRye.com has requested available project detail from the County.
The letter:
Re: December 3 Public Hearing Remarks, Westchester County Board of Legislators and Marshlands Conservancy Capital Projects Budget Proposal – RM 101 and RM 102
Dear Honorable Members of the Board of Legislators,
Thank you all for your service and consideration.
My name is Suzanne Clary and I am the President of the Board of Trustees of the Jay Heritage Center. Our nonprofit manages the 23-acre Jay Estate in Rye for the benefit of the public with FREE programs and FREE access to parkland for all Westchester County residents without any funding from Westchester County. We have proven ourselves to be good neighbors to all. I am here because we and others are concerned about the $10.845 million unvetted proposal for dewatering the Marshlands, trenching to 5-foot depths, clearcutting, paving, demolition and construction all in an effort to generate money for County Parks. These actions will irreversibly harm established wildlife habitats, crush important Indigenous and African American artifacts that have lain undisturbed for centuries, and endanger the watershed of both our parks which are connected by natural watercourses and thousands of years of history.
The Conservancy, which was previously threatened by development in the 1980s, has been a protected wildlife preserve, created for the benefit of birds and rare species for more than five decades. In fact, this legislative body protected it forever as passive parkland in 1997. The current proposal ignores that legislation entirely. Some of the notable names on the 1997 legislation are Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Congressman George Latimer and Deputy County Executive Richard Wishnie. Will you now alienate the parkland that they protected, just for profit?
There’s a new plan to completely demolish what’s there and erase history. Contrary to Westchester County’s much publicized Good Neighbor Policy Executive Order, the public and neighbors have never seen these plans to erect a building the size of a TD Bank. Furthermore, the almost $11,000,000 plan relies upon an outdated and inaccurate 1971 survey (to put that in context, some of you legislators weren’t even born then.) It doesn’t have accurate property lines and doesn’t reflect the environmental data and archaeological research that has taken place at the site in the intervening 54 years. The plan dramatically subtracts habitat and dramatically changes the historic usage of the property. This flies in the face of the unique character of this area, which is a component of the only National Historic Landmark District in all of Westchester County and the last, pristine open coastal space in Southern Westchester on Long Island Sound.
We are not the only ones concerned about this project which has ballooned from $5.4 to nearly $11 million in less than 12 months since the last budget hearing. New York State Parks, which has a 90% interest in the Jay Estate adjacent to Marshlands, and the NY State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) were not consulted. The municipalities of Rye, Rye Neck and Harrison and their residents including immediate neighbors in the Preserve, Greenhaven neighborhoods and members at Rye Golf Club were not consulted. No traffic study about possible congestion on Boston Post Road has been done. Toxic landfills recently identified by NYSDEC that are in the path of the construction have not been remediated and will add additional costs and environmental impact if not dealt with first – that cost is not yet included in the budget. Given the high Native American archaeological sensitivity of this area, consultation should be undertaken with the Delaware Tribe, the Delaware Nation, and the Stockbridge Munsee Community but the County did not do that. Descendants of Revolutionary figure, peacemaker and NY State’s greatest civil servant John Jay — who are the actual owners of the entrance road to Marshlands — were not consulted. Immediate landowners like David Parsons, who owns Lounsbury, another National Historic Landmark property in the same district, were not consulted. Environmental organizations who protect sites throughout Westchester who could lend their expertise to the review process like The Rye Sustainability Committee, Save the Sound, the Federated Conservationists of Westchester, the Long Island Stewardship Partnership, Audubon and more were not consulted. Even Westchester County’s own volunteer Parks Board and Historic Preservation Advisory Committee were not consulted. A response to a recent FOIL request and Article 78 filed by stakeholders revealed that internal County documents identified this project as highly sensitive and advised against it yet the County has ignored those recommendations.
Given the significance of the Marshlands Conservancy as an undisturbed quiet place to walk, meditate and imagine America’s 250 year history; given that it is a repository for fragile African-American and Indigenous cultural resources, including a possible African American burial ground for enslaved men, women and children; given that it is an area with extensive wetlands; and given its high environmental and cultural importance to New York State as a serene sanctuary and buffer zone between wildlife and urbanization, we would strongly advise that this proposal and approval of any associated budget items would be rescinded and delayed until all the stakeholders have been convened in a transparent process as outlined in the County’s Good Neighbor Executive Order. It is premature to include a $10.845 million plan in the 2026 budget that may not be culturally, environmentally, or legally appropriate. In 1997, the County Board of Legislators protected this parkland – honor that legislation. Especially in this current economic crisis, the $11,000,000 in funds — which is sure to increase even further — can be reallocated to other worthy projects and the Marshlands building can be revisited later, when a realistic and transparent plan to update the existing building has been developed.
Thank you.
Suzanne Clary, President
Jay Heritage Center
