By Dan Murphy
Deana Robinson, Democratic Candidate for Yonkers City Council District 1, which includes the downtown waterfront, took City Councilman and republican Mayoral candidate Anthony Merante to task for recent comments he made about the X20 Restaurant.
X20 and its owner, Yonkers native and famous chef Peter Kelly, have filed for bankruptcy protection but remain open, with Kelly vowing to “continue to serve the public.”
Merante used X20 and Kelly’s challenges to attack Mayor Mike Spano, who Merante hopes to replace in November, claiming that the City gave Kelly millions to help him open the restaurant in 2008, and that reservations are down and crime is up in the downtown.
Robinson called out Merante to retract his statement and the negative comments he made about the downtown. “Councilman Merante playing on the National Republican strategy of crime fear-mongering has decided to use a restaurant on our Waterfront as a pawn in his attempt to misrepresent Yonkers waterfront’s success. Dozens of restaurants and hundreds of businesses line our Waterfront areas from the policies of smart development and the public safety commitment of Yonkers.
X2o is an excellent local establishment that many Yonkers residents patronize and like many other restaurants throughout the country, they are having a difficult time staying afloat coming out of a Pandemic. The Yonkers waterfront is the home of many great businesses that people from all over the county come to. Thanks to Mayor Mike Spano it is safer and more economically viable than ever before. As a local small business owner, I will continue to stand and fight for our small businesses. When elected councilwoman, I look forward to working with Mayor Spano to deliver resources to our waterfront and its businesses to ensure its continued success,” said Robinson.
We agree with Robinson. The Mayor of Yonkers needs to serve as a cheerleader, and promote the positive things that are happening. Merante, put down the city and its downtown waterfront. In his statement, Merante pointed out that X20 has had its challenges before, but has survived.
Why not root for one of Yonkers more famous dining establishments? Why not go to X20 for dinner. We don’t appreciate the negativity, nor do we agree with the attacks on downtown Yonkers.
In a recent story, we spoke to a downtown salon owner who said the downtown is thriving thanks to Mayor Spano. https://yonkerstimes.com/downtown-salon-owner-yonkers-is-thriving-under-mayor-spano/
