There is no delicate way to put this. Mobile phone coverage in most of Croton-on-Hudson is, as my grandfather would say, nota-sogood.
There is much to love about the area; the food, the charm, the sights, and the people all rock. But making a mobile phone call? Good luck. We spent of chunk of Sunday at Croton Dam Park, then spent some time in Senasqua. At the dam, I noticed a text message from a real estate agent regarding a deal we are working on. When I responded, my first attempt was rejected for lack of signal. This was not a call, mind you. It was a modest text, a fraction of a call's bandwidth.
It isn't very different in many other places in the area. On Grand Street at a lawyer's office, my attorney friend frowns at the notion of decent coverage. Up in Mount Airy, nothing doing. They need another tower -or something, I'm no expert- because poor coverage in 2012 isn't just a quality of life issue, it is also a matter of safety these days.
We should be able to complete a cell phone call in Westchester County in this day and age. The argument is not just a lowest common denominator matter like being able to make a call if we have a flat tire or emergency, although as the father of a special needs child I kind of would prefer to be reachable when I am in Croton. It is a quality of life and commerce issue. I use my cell phone for business. I need to check my email on my tablet. I should be able to do, on my mobile device, anything in Croton that I can do in Peekskill, Briarcliff or Irvington. I just should. It is 2012.
The urban myth whispered when no one is around is that a miltant group of soccer moms is steadfastly against a tower corrupting Croton's pristine immaculata. I don't know, although I am certain that matters of this nature always have roots in politics. But isn't that ironic? Aren't most people who choose to live in Croton quite aware of what goes on a few miles up 9A? If you can live with nuclear fission a short skip away, would it be OK, if the place does blow, that I could pull over and make a phone call to loved ones before I melt?
For more real estate commentary, log onto Westchester Real Estate Blog, authored by J. Philip Faranda, broker and owner of J. Philip Real Estate.
