Fed up, Westchester County orders Boy Scouts out of county cabin by Aug. 25
YONKERS, N.Y. -- Westchester County says it is out of patience with the Boy Scouts of Bronxville.
The county is giving the Scouts three weeks to vacate a large cabin inside a county park.
Don't let the name fool you -- "Scout Field" is a 22-acre county park, and Westchester says the Scouts group claiming to own the park cabin in question must vacate. A letter delivered Thursday gives them until Aug. 25 to get out.
"I can see the headline now, 'Latimer kicks out Boy Scouts,'" CBS New York's Tony Aiello said.
"It will continue to be used for scouting purposes, so there is no kicking anybody out," County Executive George Latimer responded.
As CBS New York reported in February, the Bronxville Scout Committee has operated a cabin in the park as its own since 1919. Local troops use it as a meeting hall and the committee makes money renting it out for parties and events.
Eventually, the county determined it actually owned the cabin and offered to negotiate a lease with the Scout committee.
"And we were met with objection, and, frankly, a lot of arrogance," Latimer said.
The county executive said a judge has ruled the cabin is county property and should be run by the Parks Department.
"Our management of the facility will be more open, more inclusive and less expensive for the people that use it, including the scouting groups that use it," Latimer said.
The Scout committee said it is harassment for the county to set a vacate deadline before its court appeal over ownership is decided.
"The county somehow doesn't want us to have a day in court. They just want to basically have everything thrown out and then they take over," said Joseph Stineman, president of the Bronxville Scout Committee.
While "being obedient" is one of the 12 principles in the Boy Scout law, Stineman says, "We've been here for 104 years and we intend to be here for another 100 years."
The Bronxville Scout Committee is not interested in obeying the order to vacate by Aug. 25.