Village of Bronxville - WestchesterGuardian.com

Transcription

PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. V No. XXXVII
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
&
Laws Safety
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Nuclear Poison in the
Land
Page 6
The Road from
Nuremberg to Buffalo
to Washington, D.C.
Page 8
Requiem for the
Post Roads
Page 10
”Moneyball” and
“Toast”
Page 11
Sewage Systems
on Hen Island
Page 16
Iona Planning
Committee
Appointments
Page 20
Village of Bronxville
Mayor Mary C. Marvin, Page 18
westchesterguardian.com
World Class
Medicine - Unless
You Work There!
Page 23
Will Clinton Challenge
Obama Next Year?
Page 26
Page 2
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
Of Significance
Community Section....................................................................2
Books.........................................................................................2
Calendar....................................................................................4
Energy Matters.........................................................................6
History......................................................................................8
Ed Koch Movie Reviews........................................................11
Music Review.........................................................................13
The Spoof...............................................................................14
Eye On Theatre......................................................................14
Housing..................................................................................15
Environment...........................................................................16
Government Section................................................................18
Mayor Marvin........................................................................18
Government............................................................................18
Albany Correspondent...........................................................22
Labor.......................................................................................22
Campaign Trail.......................................................................23
OpEd Section............................................................................24
New York Civic.......................................................................25
Weir Only Human.................................................................26
Legal Notices.............................................................................27
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Guardian News Corp.
P.O. Box 8
New Rochelle, New York 10801
Sam Zherka , Publisher & President
[email protected]
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CommunitySection
RADIO
The Guardian Radio Network
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Guardian Radio Network, WGRN,
operated under the auspices of Hezitorial Absurdity, Inc. president Hezi Aris,
continues to build its programing day on the Blog TalkRadio platform. In addition
to Westchester On the Level with Richard Narog and Hezi Aris, And Nothing
But the Truth - Coast to Coast with Frank Vernuccio, Jr. and Larry Allison, and
The Conservative Torch with Carmine Torchetti are now to be heard
Westchester On The Level with co-hosts Richard Narog and Hezi Aris is heard from Monday
to Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon. And Nothing But the Truth – Coast to Coast with Frank
Vernuccio, Jr., and Larry L. Allsion is hed on Tuesdays, from 2 – 4 p.m. The Conservative Torch with
Carmine Torchetti, Jr. is heard on Thursdays, from 7 – 9 p.m.
Listen to our radio programs live by clicking onto the following hyperlink:
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Mission Statement
The Westchester Guardian is a weekly newspaper devoted to the unbiased reporting of events
and developments that are newsworthy and significant to readers living in, and/or employed in,
Westchester County. The Guardian will strive to report fairly, and objectively,
reliable information without favor or compromise. Our first duty will be to
the PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO KNOW, by the exposure of truth, without fear
or hesitation, no matter where the pursuit may lead, in the finest tradition of FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
The Guardian will cover news and events relevant to residents and businesses all over Westchester County. As a weekly, rather than focusing
on the immediacy of delivery more associated with daily journals, we will
instead seek to provide the broader, more comprehensive, chronological
step-by-step accounting of events, enlightened with analysis, where
appropriate.
From amongst journalism’s classic key-words: who, what, when, where,
why, and how, the why and how will drive our pursuit. We will use our
more abundant time, and our resources, to get past the initial ‘spin’ and
‘damage control’ often characteristic of immediate news releases, to reach
the very heart of the matter: the truth. We will take our readers to a point
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things to all readers. We must carefully balance the presentation of relevant, hard-hitting, Westchester news and commentary, with features and
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We must stay trim and flexible if we are to succeed.
BOOKS
The Retired (Try To) Strike Back—
Chapter 22 – Ethics
By ALLAN LUKS
“I can’t believe you’re
afraid to go ahead. Now,
when we’re so close, for
you, Steven, to get nervous about our chance
to make the world a little better.”
Bob, the film’s director, gazes around
the seven friends sitting around the table,
as he continues. “For more than three years
we’ve been working on The Retired Person’s
Dating Film. The insurance company
sponsors a focus group last week and the
participants believe our short video might
sell a lot of copies across the country to
help lonely seniors meet and also encourage
the retired to get much more involved
in community leadership. The insurance
company has now given us a small grant
to help us advertise. Steven, we’re on a roll,
what are you afraid of?”
They are in the private party room of
a restaurant to celebrate the focus group’s
results, unlike the rooms in the small diners
where they usually meet.
Steven rises. “You know I don’t like to
stand. And I know your nickname for me
is the Social Work Defender. But this is
important. To start off doing something
that may not be ethical should make us all
nervous.”
“What’s that?” Kenny asks. He’s a
former amateur actor who’d been a high
school literature teacher and was telling his
friends this morning that he thought their
film could actually gain enough attention to
lead to a commercial acting offer for him.
Now Kenny also stares at Steven.
Bob motions the waiter who’s come for
their order to leave the room, and Steven
watches the departing waiter, as if, being a
caring social worker, he is responsible for the
waiter’s inability to do his job. Steven still
stands, alternately rubbing at his face, elbow,
thigh, and his thin gray hair as he speaks.
“When I was a social worker, someone
wouldn’t have friends because he or she was
too shy or too loud. People would fail at job
interviews because they were too meek or
too assertive. Family relationships would
break up because one person was too impatient while another was too understanding,
kept listening but never acting. How did we
counsel these people? If the new behavior
we encouraged was wrong, they’d feel worse,
have even more problems. Getting people
to make large changes in their lives has to be
thought out. So we continually did research
and reviewed studies.
“Our film’s conclusions, especially that
the newly retired should take on the task of
running for public office in large numbers,
have no history behind them. We don’t
really know if they’ll receive popular support
if they run. This, call it our consensus, from
a lot of role playing among the eight of
us, and interviewing maybe thirty other
seniors over time. But there are no studies
supporting our conclusion.
“We originally were making just a small
film so I never said anything. Except now,
when our film has grown to nearly an hour
and could attract national attention, what
if our suggestions are wrong? What if the
newly retired who try, never get elected,
they’re defeated by huge numbers? The
public sort of laughs at their attempts.
These seniors could get hurt, depressed, and
that could lead to relationship problems. I
propose taking some of the new insurance
company money and hiring social work
researchers to look at our conclusions. Do
a major study to check it all out. But that of
course can take time.”
“Ridiculous,” calls Bob, who starts to
rise and Steven begins to
sit—but then Bob sits and motions his
friend Steven to keep standing.
“Steven, Steven,” Bob continues,
“When I made TV commercials, we had
this phrase called marketing ethics. Don’t
make claims for your product unless you’re
positive about these benefits. You had to
compare them to claims being made for
competing products. But where are our
competitors, who are revealing a new source
of leadership for our country that ‘s slipping
in its ability to make change happen?”
“Of course,” says Kenny, now smiling. “
Mr. Social Work Defender, when you have
a pill that might help so much, when do you
just say: Yes, no waiting, it has to be now.
Look around. What’s the ethical answer?”
Allan Luks is a nationally recognized social
works leader and advocate for volunteerism. He
is the former head of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of
New York and is currently a visiting professor
at Fordham University, where he teaches
several courses in nonprofit leadership. You can
learn more about Allan Luks at http://allanluks.com.
Page 3
Page 4
BOOKS
No Guarantees, One Man’s Road Through the Darkness of Depression
Chapter Six – Homeless at Home – The Expiring Lie
By BOB MARRONE
Several weeks ago,
Bob Marrone published a
column, A Barbarian at the
Gate, dealing with his successful struggle
with clinical depression. In it he mentioned
that he was in the process of writing a
book about his experiences. The piece was
met with many requests for more about
Bob’s thirty-year battle. To that end, The
Westchester Guardian will publish synoptic
excerpts of the work in progress each week.
The previous chapters were as follows:
(1) There Are No Guarantees, (2) Robert
Has Two Mommies, (3) Sadness Is Normal,
(4) Grandma’s House, and (5) My Peanuts
Period.
It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon
when my foster father John and my uncle Joe
showed up at the doorway to the bedroom
I shared with my sister (foster) Joanne for
the almost seven years of my life. We were
playing with our toys with absolutely no idea
that anything special was planned, or would
happen, that day.
“It’s time to go home to your mother,
Robert,” announced John. As I write this,
sadness still grabs at my stomach when I
think about the change those words meant.
Of course, now, I cannot tell if the pain comes
from what followed and the perspective that
was gained, or the realization that I was about
to leave the home and family I loved. Having
had the benefit of time, I am reasonably
confident that it is both.
I did not know at that moment that I
would not see my beloved sister for decades,
or that I would never see my foster mother
again. I did not, could not, appreciate the
enormous loss, or betrayal of trust, I was
destined to feel, by the very nature of the
abrupt, permanent break that would take
place that day.
Things moved quickly, following the
announcement. We hastily gathered my
things, only to be held up by my search for
a wooden boat that was one of my favorite
toys. I did not want to leave without it and we
made continued trips to the basement to look
for it. We never found it. I find it remarkable
that I dreamed about finding that boat for
many years thereafter.
Another comment about how I felt that
day. After years of pining for my real mom
and feeling rejected and abandoned, I felt
glad that she wanted me, at last. But I was
also confused. I was worried that I might
not see my family enough…they were foster
family, but the only real family I ever really
had; and I wondered where I would sleep and
how my future siblings at my mother’s house
would accept me? I did not for one moment
think that my life as I knew it was over, and
that these people whom I loved were to be no
more. I figured that somehow, I would keep
everybody.
Accepting the lies of others in order to
survive is as easy as it is insidious. It was to
be many years before I fully understood why
that day was time to go, why I had been in a
foster home or why I never felt at home no
matter where I was. So, that Sunday afternoon I knew enough not to ask why it was
time or why I was leaving, just like I accepted
the story that I had two mothers. Most of all,
if I questioned why, I was afraid that no one
would want me at all, and that I would make
someone angry enough to act on it.
Looking back, especially after I entered
therapy, I recognized a tacit pattern, begun
almost as soon as I was born, of procrastination, denial and avoidance of confronting
problems head on. I was subject to it, and as
my life went on, I became its greatest practitioner. The great paradox is that this method
of avoiding problems became my way of
solving them. When the clock runs out, you
win or lose based on the score you inherit.
When the woman gets upset and leaves, she
leaves. When your temperature reaches one
hundred and three, you go to the doctors. No
decision, no accountability, no confrontations
or stress.
And so it was on that Sunday morning
that the clock ran out on my young childhood. For my parents… all of them… the
unsolved issues were piling up. I was already
too old for kindergarten. No one knew who
should send me, or where I should go. I was
already a little over age for first grade and
would have to start in a few weeks. Someone
was going to have to sign me up for school.
Worse still, my foster mother Mary, as
I learned many years later, had fallen I love
with me. To her, I was her little boy and
she wanted to keep me. She started putting
increasingly more pressure on my biological
mother to let me stay at 17th. Street. I was
her foster son, unofficially, and she wanted to
adopt me, make it legal and give me a legitimate identity. So, my mother was forced by
circumstances to act…up to a point.
A few weeks after my arrival at 24th.
Street, I was to learn just how far the
masquerade went, as to who I was and how
little my Mom prepared for my “repatriation.”
It all came to an incomprehensible head no
my first day of school, and would serve to
cement my adeptness as a self-deceitful liar,
and my conviction that I was worthless and
guilty of some damnable truth.
Listen to Bob Marrone every weekday from
6:00-8:30 am on the Good Morning Westchester
with Bob Marrone on WVOX-1460 AM
radio.
CALENDAR
“America’s Got Talent” Holding New York
Auditions October 8-9
Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to Host
Walk to Cure Diabetes
NBC’s top-rated summer series
“America’s Got Talent” will be kicking off
its nationwide search for Season 7 contestants with auditions in New York City.
The “America’s Got Talent” auditions
are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for
performers across the country to showcase
their talents in 90 seconds to series’ producers
in the hopes of being able to take the stage in
front of the judges. Every type of performer
is welcome - including musicians, dance
crews, magicians, contortionists, comedians,
singers, jugglers, animal acts and everything
in between - all of whom want to perform for
America’s votes and the coveted $1 million
prize.
Auditions will be conducted at the Jacob
Javits Center, located at
YONKERS, NY -- Empire City Casino
at Yonkers Raceway longtime general
manager Bob Galterio’s daughter Cara was
diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 10,
and the Bedford resident was immediately
compelled to take action to fight the disease.
So, the “Cure for Cara” was born. That
was 10 years ago, and on Sunday, October
16, more than 2,500 Empire City employees,
volunteers and participants will gather at
Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, to
take action in the Walk to Cure Diabetes for
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Galterio will serve as captain of the “Cure for
Cara” team.
With the help of many volunteers and
donors, JDF is moving research from the
laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside,
translating scientific advances into longer,
655 West 34th Street, New York, N.Y.
10001, on Saturday, October 8, and Sunday,
October 9, with registration from 8 a.m.- 7
p.m
Auditions are open to talent of any
age; “America’s Got Talent” offers a unique
chance for anyone who has dreamed of
performing his or her talent on a national
stage. Additional cities for auditions currently
scheduled include St. Louis, Washington
D.C., Tampa, Anaheim, Austin, and
Charlotte.
For all the latest information and to pre-register,
go to www.AGTauditions.com.
healthier lives for those with diabetes,
moving closer to our goal...a cure for diabetes
and its complications.
More than 2,500 walkers representing
local corporations, families, schools, and
other organizations are expected to participate in the Westchester County Chapter of
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
(JDRF) annual Walk to Cure Diabetes, on
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at Empire City
Casino at Yonkers Raceway from 9:00 a.m.12:00 Noon. The fundraising goal for the
chapter is to realize more than $690,000 for
research to find a cure for diabetes and its
complications.
“It’s great to be partnering with JDRF
and working together on such an important
goal – curing a disease that kills one
Continued on page 5
CALENDAR
Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to Host Walk
to Cure Diabetes
Continued from page 4
American every three minutes. The recent
statistics are staggering and reveal that health
care expenditures surrounding diabetes cost
our nation more than $174 billion,” says
Corporate Walk Chair, Bob Galterio, Vice
President and General Manager of Empire
City Casino at Yonkers Raceway. These
are the reasons we are committed to raising
money for the cutting-edge research that
JDRF funds. By working together, we can
make a difference.”
This year the Westchester County
Chapter of JDRF will honor The Stagg
Family of White Plains, NY, and their walk
team, Team Amanda, for all that they have
done over the past 7 years. Team Amanda
has been participating in the Walk to Cure
Diabetes by raising over $264,000 for type 1
diabetes research!
“We became involved with JDRF in
2004 because we felt this was an organization dedicated toward funding research to
find a cure for type 1 diabetes. Our daughter
Amanda, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes
at age 3 on May 1, 2003. We have had over
100 walkers join Team Amanda each year
to show their love and support for her. Our
family is so appreciative to be the Honored
Family this year, said Theresa Stagg. “We
hope all of our efforts will soon find a cure for
our courageous daughter Amanda and all of
the families affected by type 1 diabetes.”
In addition to wide-spread corporate
support, entire families from kids to grandparents take part in the fundraising efforts of
the Walk to Cure Diabetes – many affected,
but even those who are not among the 14
million Americans with a personal connection to type-1 diabetes. At the walk, there
will be games, a scavenger hunt, food and
most of all FUN! On-site registration begins
at 9:00 a.m. at the entrance of the racetrack.
“JDRF is immensely appreciative of
Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway’s
participation,” said JDRF Executive
Director, Rebecca Santoli. “This is corporate
citizenship at its finest. The commitment of
Bob Galterio and his employees enables us to
accelerate research to find a cure for diabetes.
Insulin is not a cure, merely life support for
the estimated 3 million Americans suffering
from type-1 diabetes and its complications.
Research is the only answer.
JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda
for diabetes research worldwide, and is the
largest charitable funder and advocate of type
1 diabetes research. The mission of JDRF is
to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.
To register now and participate, sponsor
the event, build a Walk team, or for more
information please visit www.walk.jdrf.org or
call the JDRF Westchester County Chapter
at 914-686-7700.
Page 5
When was the last time
you dealt with
Lexington Capital Associates?
CALENDAR
News & Notes from Northern Westchester
By MARK JEFFERS
Looks like it might
be time to pull out your
sweaters and jackets, as the
weather turns cooler, grab
a blanket and snuggle in to
read this week’s “News and Notes…”
Here’s some news from the good folks
at the Community Center of Northern
Westchester; the changing of the seasons
means it’s time to start providing cold
weather clothing to families in need for the
chilly months ahead. They are now gratefully
accepting gently used warm fall and winter
clothing, shoes and linens. Donations are
welcome during the Center’s regular hours:
Tuesday-Friday, 10-4; Saturday, 10-1.
The Pound Ridge Library presents an
exhibition of oil paintings, photographs and
charcoal drawings by artist Phyllis Smith
through October 22nd. I can cook with charcoal, but not sure about drawing with it…
Congratulations to our friends at
Hickory & Tweed in Armonk as they celebrate 50 years in business.
You know how much I like to eat, so
I’m not missing the Hope’s Door annual
luncheon dedicated to National Domestic
Violence Awareness month, which will be
held on October 6th at Crabtree’s Kittle
House. There will be a silent auction, a giving
tree and great food. Call 914-747-0828 for
details.
Here’s another tasty tidbit…on Tuesday,
October 18th the Bedford Hills Woman’s
Club will host its annual luncheon benefiting
local high school scholarship programs. The
Bedford Hills Woman’s Club was founded
Continued on page 6
With over 50 years experience, Lexington Capital Associates
provides loans from $1m-$150m at some of the lowest
interest rates available in the marketplace.
• For cash flowing loans- NO PERSONAL GUARANTEE
• 30 year payouts
• Int. only loans available
Lexington Capital Associates, LLC.
240 North Avenue
New Rochelle, NY 10801
Phone (914) 632-1230 fax (914) 633-0806
Page 6
CALENDAR
News & Notes from Northern Westchester
in 1926 to “render service throughout the
community” and this luncheon and other
programs during the year provide much
needed support to Bedford Hills’ organizations and families. This luncheon is the major
source of funding for scholarships. Lunch,
entertainment, and various raffle prizes will
be held at noon at the Mount Kisco Country
Club, 10 Taylor Road, Mount Kisco, NY. For
more information, contact Tina Campbell at
914-441-1383.
Calling all Pound Ridge adults and their
guests as they are invited to join the Pound
Ridge Recreation Department for a behind
the scenes trip to Stone Barns Center for
Food and Agriculture on October 6th, contact
Louise for details at 914-764-8201.
If you are ready for a night filled with
laughs then set aside November 19th on your
calendar, as funny lady Paula Poundstone
hits the stage at the Paramount Center for
the Arts in Peekskill. And remember Ms.
Poundstone’s act is for adults. Gee, I wonder
if my wife will let me attend…
Now here’s one for the whole family,
“Elmo Makes Music,” join the Sesame Street
gang at the Westchester County Center
on October 22nd for a fun filled day with
rubber duckies, cookie jars and maybe even
a trash can lid. Call 914-995-4050 for more
information.
Being a commuter, I think this is a
brilliant idea…Metro-North will be experimenting on “Quiet Cars” on some peak hour
trains beginning on October 17th. The last
car on some morning rush hour trains and
the first car on evening rush hour trains will
be set aside for the quieter experience. These
cars will be perfect for my naps into the city.
The Peekskill Garden Club is looking
to plant 10,000 daffodils on a dedicated
trail. For those interested in working on this
project can join them on October 8th at the
Riverfront anytime from 10am to 2pm.
Turning to sports:
In girls soccer action, North Salem beat
Lakeland 3 to 1, on the boys side Somers
defeated Ketcham 2 to 1, and in volleyball
Greeley got by Westlake 3 to 2.
Let’s talk leaves…beautiful to look at this
time of year as they change colors, but then
become a pain in our backs when we have to
rake them up, better get my children on that
duty. Or better yet, join the “Leave Leaves
Alone” movement and just mow over those
leaves to make a nice mulch for your lawn. It
is environmentally friendly and nutritious for
your lawn! See you next week…
Mark Jeffers successfully spearheaded the launch
in 2008 of MAR$AR Sports & Entertainment
LLC. As president he has seen rapid growth
of the company with the signing of numerous
clients. He currently resides in Bedford Hills with
his wife Sarah and three girls, Kate, Amanda
and Claire.
Turkeys and Time Needed
Senator Ball Asks for Donations for First Annual Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner
MAHOPAC, NY -- Senator Greg Ball
is gearing up for his first-annual 40th District
Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner and asking
the community for its support. The Senator
is hosting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner
for 600 veterans and their loved ones on
November 12th. He’s reaching out to restaurants, grocery stores, caterers and others who
would like to donate food or their time to the
event.
People who would like to donate food or
time to the Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner
should contact Erica Massimi at (914)
329-1051 or [email protected].
The dinner, which will include turkey,
all the trimmings, beverages, dessert and live
entertainment, is taking place on November
12th at the Mahopac Volunteer Fire
Department located at 741 US Route 6 in
Mahopac, N.Y.
All veterans living in
the 40th Senate District
are welcomed to attend
and bring one guest.
Seating is limited.
RSVP is required by
October 14th.
ENERGY MATTERS
Nuclear Poison in the Land
A Farm Family from Fukushima Loses it All
By ROGER WITHERSPOON
Killing the chickens
was the worst.
For a 53-year-old
organic farmer like Sachiko
Sato, killing a chicken was not a novel event.
“We kill chickens for food. We sell chickens.
We raise chickens to eat,” she said. “But this
was different. This was too much.”
She was sitting in the sparse conference
room in the Ossining, NY headquarters of
the environmental group Riverkeeper, having
lunch and recalling the life-changing events
of the past year in her hometown, Fukushima,
Japan, as her 13-year-old daughter, Mina,
slept in a chair nearby. She is part of a small
delegation of Japanese farmers and the country’s best known anti-nuclear activist, Aileen
Mioko Smith, who came to the US to talk to
anti-nuclear groups and government officials
and present a petition to the United Nations
High commission on Human Rights to
recognize the danger posed by radiation to
children.
Earlier in the week Ed Lyman, of
the Union of Concerned Scientists (
www.UCSUSA.org ), hosted a meeting
between the group and officials at the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Beyond
Nuclear ( www.beyondnuclear.org ),the
American anti-nuclear group, guided the
group around New York and teamed with
the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (
www.Indianpointinfo.org and www.
ShutDownIndianPointNow.org ) to bring
them to suburban Westchester County
Friday to see the area around the Indian
Point nuclear power complex and talk with
local farmers about the danger such plants
posed to their livelihoods. They stopped at
Riverkeeper, which has waged a legal fight
to close the plant for nearly a decade, to rest
before taking the train back into Manhattan
for a meeting at the UN.
“When we met with the US officials,”
said Mrs. Sato, “they said they would learn
from the lessons of Fukushima. “They talked
about the evacuation of Americans within
50 miles of Fukushima. But now that I have
been here, I realize that there is no possible
Continued on page 7
The City of Stamford is seeking qualified
applicants for the following positions:
Shift Foreman - WPCA
Salary: $57,696 - $69,895 (Annually)
Applicants must possess a Connecticut DEP Class III Wastewater
Treatment Operator or Operator in Training license.
Plant Supervisor - WPCA
Salary: $86,252 - $110,630 (Annually)
Applicant must possess a Connecticut DEP Class IV Wastewater
Treatment Operator’s certificate.
Applications can be obtained at www.cityofstamford.org or City of Stamford,
Human Resources Department, 888 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, Connecticut 06904. A resume and/or other correspondence will not be considered as equivalent to an application. For additional information call the
Human Resources Department (203) 977-4070. Equal Opportunity Employer
Page 7
ENERGY MATTERS
evacuation plan for people 50 miles around
Indian Point.”
Such an evacuation would affect 21
million people, including all of northern
New Jersey as far as Newark, west past the
Delaware Water Gap into Pennsylvania, east
to Hartford, Conn., and south encompassing
all of New York City. The NRC requires
evacuation plans for only 10 miles around the
nation’s 104 nuclear power plants.
plant, I would send my children to Yamagata.
But that was in 1985.”
That accident in the Ukraine made her
rethink the role of technology in daily living,
and “I decided to learn from the wisdom and
skills of the past, so that we could continue
life into the next generation even if there
were no imports of fossil fuels or nuclear
power. That is the way people used to live,
greatly valuing the connection between each
other and having awe and respect for nature.”
She and her husband and their five children converted the homestead into a “natural
The massive, March 11 earthquake and
resulting tsunami ravaged the coastline of
Japan and killed thousands of people, and
destroyed safety systems and power at the
huge nuclear complex. It had done little
damage to the Sato’s small organic farm,
about 60 miles from the coast. But the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant were another matter. Two of
the six plants in the complex were closed
for refueling, but the remaining four were
out of control and melted down, giving off
hydrogen gas from the reactors and spent
fuel pools which exploded and blew their
containment buildings apart.
These were modern plants, the same
make and vintage of boiling water reactors
as the Hope Creek and Oyster Creek plants
in New Jersey whose licenses were recently
extended for 20 more years. The continuing,
uncontrolled release of radiation from their
Japanese counterparts threatens to overtake
Chernobyl as the world’s worst commercial
nuclear power accident.
“March 11 changed everything,” Mrs.
Sato said. “The nuclear accident was particularly difficult to accept because we could not
see it.”
She had never paid much attention to her
city’s nuclear complex. After the Chernobyl
accident in 1985, she said, “I talked to a
friend in Yamagata, about 100 kilometers
away. I had decided if an accident were to
ever occur at the Fukushima nuclear power
farm,” growing rice, vegetables and grains,
raising and tending some 200 chickens and
coking their meals over firewood. They
did not use plows or heavy machinery, but
worked by hand, the way their ancestors had.
Their organic farm became the nucleus of a
cooperative organic farming community.
“It wasn’t until three years ago that I
actually saw Fukushima Daiichi,” she said.
“I was at a meeting near the coast, and we
had decided that if the weather was nice we
would swim in the sea. The weather was
rough and the sea was choppy so we did not
go for the swim, but that’s when I saw the
power plant.
“I had never seen anything like it. I
wondered how you can live with this power
plant. The discharge from the plant was hot
water that was harming the fish.”
The once-through cooling system used
by many nuclear plants sucks in billions of
gallons of water daily, runs it through heat
exchangers, and dumps the heated water
back into the waterway. In the process, the
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection estimates that some 9 billion juvenile and mature fish are killed by the Salem
and Oyster Creek power plants, and the
New York Department of Environmental
Conservation puts the figure for Indian Point
on the Hudson River at about 2 billion juvenile and mature fish. The process is far more
devastating, however, to the newly hatched
fish, which are under a half inch in diameter
and are captives of the smallest currents.
According to the National marine Fisheries
Service, Indian point alone kills some 300
billion of these baby fish and “the numbers
for Salem and Oyster Creek are similar.”
But fishing wasn’t Mrs. Sato’s issue.
Raising her kids and managing the family
farm were full time jobs. Besides, she had
a safety out if a real accident ever occurred.
Until March 11, she said she never gave the
nuclear power plant another thought.
The reactors at Fukushima Daiichi
began melting down within hours of the
earthquake. The ensuing explosions from
reactors 1 through 4 blew off both the roofs
of the buildings and the years of assurances that Chernobyl-type meltdowns were
impossible. The Japanese government was
continually reassuring the public that they
were safe and there was little danger from
radiation but, simultaneously, it raised the
maximum amount of permissible radioactive
contamination in water, food and air. The
government’s guidelines made no distinction
between what was safe for infants, children,
and adults.
She called her friend in Yamagata and
said, simply, “The fateful day has arrived.”
It was hard on the kids. “My father built
our house 20 years ago,” said Mina. “I had
never had my own room. The house was
being renovated from February, and my
room was in the middle of being built. I
had to leave our home before the room was
completed.
“I was looking forward to it.”
As she put her children on the train, she
said “brace yourselves against the fact that
you won’t be able to go back to Fukushma for
quite some time.”
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ENERGY MATTERS
Sending them away was not a difficult
decision, she said: protecting your children is
what a parent is supposed to do.
“I took soil samples and on March 31 sent
them to a French company for an analysis,”
She warned her neighbors, but many were
reluctant to accept that their livelihoods had
been upended. “Many were growing food and
taking it to the market,” she said. “Since the
government kept raising the limit, they said
they were legally allowed to sell it. “There
is a standard for imported food which the
government put into place after Chernobyl
she said. “I got the results back two weeks later.
The government was saying that the limit of
allowable cesium in soil was 5,000 Becquerels
per kilogram. But the analysis showed it
was over 6,000 Becquerels and I decided
not to grow anything this year. My land was
poisoned.”
of 370 Becquerels,” she said. “But the provincial government set the standard for food in
Fukushima at 500 on the assumption that
only a tenth of the radiation in the ground
could go into the food. They had no scientific
basis for that. They just decided it.
“People around me are selling it and
feeding it to their children. Almost nobody is
taking measurements. But I wouldn’t do that.”
She decided to take measurements of the
soil at the schools attended by her 13-yearold daughter, Mina, and her 17-year-old
son, Yuuki and found that the soil around
the schools was heavily contaminated as well.
She and other parents petitioned the local
government to measure the soil around all
the region’s schools, “and then the national
government issued new standards April 19
raising the limit for exposure to 20 times what
it had been before. The Japanese government
has not protected the lives of our children.”
Back home, she and her husband systematically began dismantling the crops and
petitioning the government for help in decontaminating the soil. Watching her farm go to
waste was a pragmatic decision: painful, but
necessary. Just like sending the children away.
“It is an issue that has divided our
community,” she said. “Some do not want to
believe everything has changed. They want to
go on as before. It has torn our hearts. There
is a rift in the human relationships between
those who chose to believe it is not safe and
we must evacuate the children and those who
chose to believe it is safe and to stay. There are
still 300,000 children in Fukushima.
“We were one community, but now we
are torn apart.”
The chickens were different. They
couldn’t be bulldozed away, or left to grow
wild like free range rice. They had to be killed.
She and her husband walked into the hen
house, carrying the wire garrotes to quickly,
efficiently, strangle them.
“They weren’t pets,” she said, softly. “I had
gone in there many times to single one out and
kill it for food. This was different.”
They were there, some cackling, some
walking, and some sitting on their eggs as her
husband began methodically killing them, one
by one.
“I watched him,” she said, “and then I
couldn’t bear it any more. I left, and he finished
it alone.”
Roger Witherspoon writes Energy Matters at
www.Rogerwitherspoon.com.
history
The Road from Nuremberg to Buffalo and Washington, D.C.
By JOHN Q. BARRETT
Sixty-five years ago, on
the evening of September
30, 1946, Justice Robert H.
Jackson spent his final night
in Nuremberg, in the United States occupation zone of what had been Nazi Germany.
As U.S. Chief of Counsel since May 1945,
he had negotiated with Allies the creation of
the International Military Tribunal (IMT),
supervised the gathering and analysis of voluminous evidence, approved criminal charges
against twenty-four Nazi leaders and six
Nazi organizations and, in November 1945,
opened history’s first international prosecution for crimes against peace, war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
During the next eight months, Justice
Jackson worked in Nuremberg as a trial prosecutor and administrator and throughout
Europe as a leading government official and
diplomat. Jackson’s active work in Nuremberg
concluded when he delivered his closing argument to the IMT on July 26, 1946. Five days
later, he left Nuremberg temporarily, returning
to the U.S. and Supreme Court work while
part of his team remained in Nuremberg to
present evidence against the indicted organizations and to sum up those cases, and then
while the IMT judges deliberated and wrote
their judgment.
Jackson landed in Washington on August
2, 1946. He remained there, living back in his
home and working at the Supreme Court,
until September 18. He then flew back to
Europe, accompanied by some of his friends—
Charles Horsky, Robert Storey, Francis Shea
and Father Edmund Walsh, S.J.—who had
been senior members of his U.S. prosecution
team at earlier points. They were going back
to Nuremberg to witness the IMT judgment,
which was scheduled to be handed down on
September 23. After refueling stops in Goose
Bay, Labrador, and in Iceland, they landed in
Paris on September 20. They learned then that
the IMT had announced that its judgment
would not be announced until September 30.
Justice Jackson, who had missed the
previous Supreme Court term (a full year
of Court work), was determined to be back
on the bench when the new term began
on October 7, 1946, the first Monday in
October. The IMT’s unexpected delay meant
that Jackson would have almost no leeway
in his travel schedule. He also, since leaving
Nuremberg at the end of July, no longer had
a requisitioned residence there—“his” house
had passed to others.
So Jackson stayed in Paris. He worked on
drafting his final report to President Truman.
He wrote and sent memoranda and cables,
including back to the War Department about
Nuremberg trial matters. He also worked,
it seems, on a speech that he had agreed to
deliver, long before he knew how squeezed his
schedule would become, at the University of
Buffalo on October 4.
Jackson flew to Nuremberg a few days
later, but he then was called back to Paris by his
friend and former Supreme Court colleague
James F. Byrnes, who then was U.S. Secretary
of State. They discussed many matters. Some
related to Germany and the Nuremberg trial.
Others concerned the Supreme Court. One
was Byrnes’s support for Jackson becoming
U.S. Ambassador in London if, as some press
reports then had it, Jackson wanted that job.
(He made clear to Byrnes that he did not.)
On one afternoon, Byrnes added Jackson to
the U.S. delegation at the peace conference
that was ongoing at the Quai D’Orsay. Having
experienced months of nearly simultaneous
four-language translation during the
Continued on page 9
Page 9
history
The Road from Nuremberg to Buffalo and Washington, D.C.
Nuremberg trial, Jackson reported that in
Paris it was “terribly dull to listen to interpretations into 3 other languages, 1 by 1 after [each]
speaker finished. Awful.”
On Saturday, September 28, Jackson and
guests flew back to Nuremberg. His weekend
was filled with meetings and social activities.
Many of his guests and travelling companions
found extremely comfortable, indeed fancy,
quarters. Having lost his house, Jackson, his
son, his secretary and his nephew bunked in
servants’ quarters on the top floor of a German
mansion. (Jackson’s nephew, a private serving
occupation duty in the U.S. Army, had been
ordered to Nuremberg by General Lucius
Clay, acting on a request from the young man’s
“Uncle Bob” who wanted him to get to see
history.)
On Monday, September 30, 1946, the
IMT judges began to read their lengthy
Judgment. (For its text, click here.) The IMT
affirmed the validity, in international law, of
each crime charged in the indictment. That
afternoon, the court returned its verdicts—
some convictions, some acquittals—on the
indicted organizations. That night, Jackson
hosted a dinner and then retired to his room
under the eaves.
On Tuesday, October 1, 1946, the IMT
delivered its verdicts on the twenty-two
individual defendants. Nineteen were found
guilty and three were found not guilty. Of the
nineteen, seven were sentenced to terms of
imprisonment and twelve were sentenced to
death by hanging.
Immediately after the IMT adjourned,
Justice Jackson issued a written statement. He
said that he was gratified that the Tribunal
had sustained and applied the principle that
aggressive war is a crime for which statesmen
may individually be punished. He said that
he had not had time to study other aspects of
the intricate opinion. He expressed regret that
the Tribunal had acquitted two defendants,
Hjalmar Schacht and Franz von Papen, and
that it had declined to declare the criminality
of the General Staff, admitting that “[o]ur
argument for their conviction … seemed so
convincing to all of us prosecutors” and saying
they would have to study the effect of those
acquittals on further prosecutions of industrialists and militarists.
Jackson’s statement closed with a reflective, long view:
I personally regard the conviction or
sentence of individuals as of secondary importance compared with the significance of the
commitment by the four [Allied] nations
to the position that wars of aggression are
criminal and that persecution of conquered
minorities on racial, religious or political
grounds is likewise criminal. These principles
of law will influence future events long after
the fate of particular individuals is forgotten.
At 5:30 p.m. that same day, Jackson
left Nuremberg (and never returned). His
plane made stops in Paris, the Azores and
Stephenville, Newfoundland. Before the
next day, October 2, was done, he was back
in Washington. The next day, he was back in
his Supreme Court chambers. He found “an
awful pile of work that had accumulated in
[his] absence.” The new Supreme Court term
was four days hence.
Jackson, originally a western New York
lawyer, had accepted an invitation from friends
and legal profession leaders in the leading
American city where he once had lived and
practiced law, and from a leading university
that he revered. So on Thursday, October 3,
1946, after a work day at the Supreme Court
and then a judicial dinner at a Washington
hotel, Jackson boarded a night train at Union
Station and travelled to Buffalo, New York.
Next Tuesday, October 4, 2011, marks the
65th anniversary of Justice Robert H. Jackson’s
address—his first following, by only three
days, his departure from Nuremberg—at the
closing ceremony at the University of Buffalo
centennial convocation. On this October 4th,
the James McCormick Mitchell Lectures
at the University at Buffalo Law School will
commemorate Jackson’s address. The lecturers
will be:
· John Q. Barrett (St. John’s University),
“Bringing Nuremberg Home: Justice Jackson’s
Path Back to Buffalo, October 4, 1946”;
· Eric L. Muller (University of North
Carolina), “Nazis, Americans, and the Law as
a ‘Peace Profession’”; and
· Mary L. Dudziak (University of
Southern California), “Rumors of War.”
To read Justice Robert H. Jackson’s
notable October 4, 1946, address, which
focused on Nuremberg, click here:
http://law.buffalo.edu/
News_And_Events/default.
asp?filename=mitchell11-Jackson.
Jackson left Buffalo for Washington on
the October 4, 1946, night train. He was on
the bench when the new Supreme Court term
commenced three days later.
Professor John Q. Barrett teaches at the St. John’s
University School of Law. Learn more by visiting
his Homepage.
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Page 10
HISTORY
Those Were the Days. 2 Requiem for the Post Roads
By ROBERT SCOTT
Look about you. You
won’t have to go very far
from your dooryard to find
them. Post roads are everywhere, unnoticed
reminders of the past.
They began as Indian paths. Improved as
horse trails for use by post riders, they were
later widened to accommodate wagons and
stagecoaches.
Eventually, dirt roads became all-weather
roads, often financed with the proceeds of
lotteries. Post roads were the sinews that
linked the original thirteen colonies. After
independence, they helped to bind the states
and territories together.
Except in the dead of winter, a post rider
would leave New York once a week, following
the Boston Post Road through New Haven
to Saybrook, where he exchanged mailbags with the Boston rider, who had come
down via Providence, Stonington and New
London. In 1785, the first stagecoach to
Boston--little more than a horse-drawn
wagon--began operating.
Designation of a road as a post road was
highly desirable, for it brought coveted postal
service to the burgeoning communities along
its route. In 1792, when the young nation’s
first postal law was enacted, less than 6,000
miles of post roads existed and only 195 post
offices.
The original City Hall on Wall Street
marked the official starting point from which
all post road distances and milestones were
measured. Stagecoaches would drive north
through the sparsely settled farm country
of Manhattan until they reached the King’s
Bridge at the northern tip of the island. After
crossing Spuyten Duyvil Creek and entering
what was then Westchester but is now the
Bronx, the post road split into two roads.
Westchester’s Two Major Post Roads
In 1664, King Charles II requested
that a post road be built from Boston to
newly conquered New Amsterdam. Called
the King’s Highway, it proceeded east from
the King’s Bridge through West Farms to
Eastchester and northeast to New Rochelle,
Mamaroneck, Rye, Port Chester (then called
the Saw Pits) and into Connecticut. The
Boston Post Road largely followed what is
now Route 1 to New Haven, where travelers had a choice of three separate routes to
Boston.
Designated a post road in 1669 and
named the Queen’s Highway for Queen
Anne, the Albany Post Road continued on
from the King’s Bridge through Yonkers
and a succession of quiet Hudson River
hamlets: Dobbs Ferry, Irvington (then
called Dearman), Tarrytown, Sparta, Sing
Sing, and Collabaugh Landing (Croton) to
Peekskill and thence inland to Fishkill and
beyond. The Albany Post Road is essentially
today’s Route 9.
After the Revolution, finding their
financial resources inadequate to meet
growing needs, the newly formed states chartered turnpike companies to
build roads with private capital
and collect tolls. By 1821, New
York could boast of some 4,000
miles of such improved roads.
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wives.
The turnpike era lasted about 30 years.
Few turnpikes showed a profit, largely
because of high maintenance costs. At best,
even in times of peak travel they paid investors small dividends. Competition, first from
canals and later from railroads, hastened
their demise. Most turnpikes were eventually surrendered to the state and dedicated as
public roads.
By the 1830’s, stage lines were carrying
the mail over more than seventeen million
miles of post roads annually. One stipulation
in every mail stage contract was that space be
provided for seven passengers.
Early Postal Practices
No account of post roads would be
complete without mention of the hectic state
of early mail service. In the 18th century,
postage was paid by the recipient.
The first turnpike company in Westchester
Letters were written on one or more
was operated by the Westchester Turnpike
sheets of paper, then elaborately folded
Company, organized in 1800 to build a road
and sealed, either with hot sealing wax or a
from East Chester to the Byram River. In
paper wafer. The address was written on the
1806, the Highland Turnpike Company was
outside. Envelopes would not be introduced
incorporated “for the purpose of making a
from France until the mid-19th century.
good and sufficient road” from the King’s
Exorbitantly high letter postage rates
Bridge to the city of Hudson.
persisted, even though the means of transport
Specifications for turnpikes were
had improved and expenses had been reduced.
remarkably detailed. For example, turnpike
From 1816 to 1845, it cost 18 and a half cents
operators were required to erect milestones at
to send a letter from Manhattan to Troy, north
intervals. Toll gates could be no closer than
of Albany--but only 12 and a half cents to ship
every ten miles. The bridge over the Croton
a barrel of flour the same distance.
River was to be “at least 24 feet in width, with
Prepayment of postage was a complidraw gates not less than 18 feet in width to
cated system based on the number of sheets
allow the passage of vessels.”
in a letter and the distance traveled. Posting
In their heyday, turnpikes were scenes of
a letter became a slow and exasperating
lively activity. Typical toll-paying customers
process. Each letter mailed was inspected by
included stagecoaches transporting travthe local postmaster for unlawful enclosures
elers and mail, emigrants moving west with
and to discover whether it had been carried
their household goods in covered wagons,
part way by someone to defraud the Post
wagoners driving heavily laden freight
Office. A romantic billet-doux containing a
wagons with broad-rimmed wheels hauled
pressed violet was a “double letter,” charged
by six- and eight-horse teams, drovers
at twice the single rate. A single-sheet letter
herding cattle, sheep or pigs to market, and
enclosing two small newspaper clippings was
Yankee peddlers with their light wagons
subject to triple postage.
filled with needles, buttons
Mailing a letter became tedious and
and thread to delight farm
time-consuming. Most letter writers let the
recipient pay the postage,
leading to many abuses.
When opened, some letters
turned out to be of little
 interest or someone’s idea of
 an expensive prank.
Evasion of postage was

rife, extending through every


stratum of society, business
and the professions. Letters

became a convenience only

for the wealthy--and even


they avoided paying postage

whenever they could.

Continued on page 11

Page 11
HISTORY
Those Were the Days. 2 Requiem for the Post Roads
Elaborate codes were developed for
writing messages on the outside of the folded
sheets of paper, usually as variations in the
return address. After reading and deciphering
the coded message, recipients would refuse
the letter, thus avoiding payment of postage.
Another onerous curse of the mail
service was “franking.” the privilege afforded
members of Congress, postmasters and
government officials of applying their signatures to letters instead of postage. Many
were not above using rubber stamps (or
“facsimiles,” as they were called) to reproduce
a signature. These devices were so frequently
copied, lent, handed out to friends and
constituents, or even stolen that soon thousands of unauthorized persons were using
them to frank their mail.
The Post Office Act of 1792 had set the
postage rate on a one-page letter going 100
miles at 12 cents. Paradoxically, it allowed a
bulky newspaper to go the same distance for
one cent. For one and a half cents, a newspaper could be sent any distance. The postage
on a one-page letter going more than 400
miles was 25 cents.
Not surprisingly, senders took advantage
of the lower rates for mailing newspapers to
convey messages secretly. One method was
to mark selected words with underlining in
pencil or with pinholes through them.
Those who had devised no code system
or who had no access to franks or who were
too poor even to buy a newspaper to mark
with hidden messages were literally cut off
from correspondence.
To avoid paying exorbitant postal rates,
friends leaving on a trip were often asked to
carry and deliver letters and parcels. Some
travelers and stage drivers made illicit lettercarrying a regular business. Private express
services soon sprang up to carry packages and
mail, circumventing the Post Office. In fact,
as many letters were regularly being carried
outside the system as in it.
The introduction of standardized rates
and postage stamps in Britain in 1840
aroused great interest in the U.S. Adhesive
stamps were introduced here in 1847 in
two denominations: five cents (Benjamin
Franklin) for a letter weighing less than one
ounce traveling less than 300 miles, and ten
cents (George Washington) for a similar
MOVIE REVIEW
Ed Koch Movie Reviews
By Edward I. Koch
Movie Review:
“Moneyball” (+)
This is a sensationally good and interesting film even for those who have no interest
in baseball. For those engrossed in the sport,
it is much more than that: it is a dream come
true. The diehards will love the statistics and
learning about the ins and outs of putting a
Major League Baseball team together.
The movie is based on a nonfiction book,
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,
by Michael Lewis. The screenplay was written
by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. (Sorkin
also wrote the television series The West Wing
and a host of other award-winning shows.)
Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is general manager
of the Oakland Athletics, a mediocre team in
the western division of the American League.
They can’t afford to buy talented players like
The New York Yankees, a franchise with a
much larger fan base and budget. Billy is shown
in a flashback as a gifted high school player
deciding whether to go into professional baseball or to Stanford. He is talked into baseball but
his skills
don’t live
up
to
expectations. Billy
ends up
as general
manager
of a broken
down
Oakland
A’s team
desperately
trying to
rebuild it
after three
star players
have left for higher salaries from other teams.
Billy’s assistant general manager, Peter
Brand (Jonah Hill), introduces him to a new
way of building a team. Peter uses statistics
to put together a team of players who might
not be hired on their individual strengths, but
working together could produce a winning
letter traveling more than 300 miles. These
rates were later reduced. By 1885, the basic
rate was down to two cents.
Competition for Mail Contracts
Meanwhile, a new competitor to post
roads had appeared: steamboats, which
carried letters for the first time in 1813.
Ten years later, Congress declared the navigable rivers of the country to be post roads.
Wherever steamboat and stagecoach routes
were in competition, steam vessels won mail
contracts and took mail as well as passengers
away from the stage lines.
In 1838, although railroads were still
comparatively rare, Congress declared all
existing and future railroads to be post roads.
The postmaster general was authorized to
pay as much as 25 percent more for
transporting the mails by rail than
was paid to stagecoach operators.
Beginning in 1848, the New
York & New Haven Railroad carried
passengers and freight on tracks
virtually paralleling the Boston
Post Road. Similarly, Commodore
Vanderbilt’s Hudson River Rail
Road, laying tracks along the east
bank of the Hudson, reached
Poughkeepsie in 1849 and Albany
two years later.
Thereafter, Westchester’s post roads
would carry only local traffic and the few
stubborn, die-hard passengers who feared
that the boilers of the new-fangled railroad
locomotives would explode.
Today, buried under layers of macadam
and concrete, traces of original post
roads have all but disappeared. Except
for a 6.6-mile section of dirt road near
Philippstown in Putnam County, post roads
were never formally designated as historic
sites. They persist only as remnant names
on road signs, their paths marked by the few
weathered milestones that have survived the
ravages of time.
Robert Scott is a semi-retired book publisher
and local historian.
Page 12
MOVIE REVIEW
Movie Review: “Moneyball” (+)
team. The field manager, Art Howe (Philip
Seymour Hoffman), doesn’t believe in the new
system and puts better-known players on the
field which frustrates Billy’s efforts.
The acting and dialogue in this sizzling
picture are brilliant. It also includes wonderful
scenes of Billy and his adolescent daughter,
Casey (Kerris Dorsey). Billy is divorced from
Movie Review:
“Toast” (+)
In the midst of the film, the Oakland
Athletics, who earlier in the 2002 season had
been in last place, put together a winning
streak, the longest in major league history. I
thought that was fiction until I looked it up.
It’s true.
William Lamar Beane III, the general
manager known as Billy, latches on to a fat
nerd working for the Cleveland Indians, who
majored in economics at Yale. This character is
fictional, but is based on a real person. Together
the pair use statistics to predict performance,
rejecting classic intuition as obsolete and
untrustworthy. Beane never won a World
Series for the Athletics, but he sure changed
baseball.
I am particularly proud that the producer
of “Moneyball” is Rachael Horovitz, a Parks
alumna whom I hired. Our other park connection in Hollywood is screenwriter Matt
Holloway, “Iron Man,” twin brother of New
York City’s new Deputy Mayor for Operations.
as a teenager, is played by Freddie
Highmore. One sensitive scene
involves the teenager meeting a
homosexual dancer who sensually kisses him and wakens his
sexual desire. They never meet
again. There are no follow-up
scenes.
The story is apparently true,
based on the life of Nigel Slater
who grows up to be a television
personality and food writer. The
acting is excellent, but I found the
dialect often difficult to understand, particularly when children
were chattering in a schoolyard.
“Toast” is feather light and
quickly forgotten but also very entertaining.
There were no more than
18 people in the theater at
the showing I attended on
opening night. Moviegoers
were probably watching
“Moneyball,” which I saw
the following night.
Henry Stern said:
“Toast” is a coming of
age story about a sensitive
British lad whose mother
dies when he is young.
Although mother is helpless
in the kitchen, the boy loves
to prepare food. In school
he elects home economics
over woodworking, which
all the other boys take.
Midway in the film another actor takes
the role and Nigel grows five years. A fine job
of casting makes teenage Nigel the image of
himself as a boy. His snobbery and delicacy
remain part of his personality. He hates his
frowsy stepmother and shows it by cruelty.
The father is heavy and thick-necked, well
meaning but unable to deal with his son, his
polar opposite.
The film itself is very well done. Young
Nigel is handsome and the older Nigel is a
dreamboat. No acne here. The Midlands
accents were too thick to fully understand,
but you get the drift. The film reminded me
of “Tea and Sympathy” (1956), except that 55
years ago, the hero had to end up straight.”
Watch Ed Koch’s Movie Reviews at www.
MayorKoch.com.
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA DEZSÖ
The title derives from the one food that
the mother of nine-year-old Nigel (Oscar
Kennedy) can make even though it is usually
burnt. Nigel loves his mother (Victoria
Hamilton) and dislikes his father (Ken Stott).
The middle-class family lives in the
British Midlands. Nigel has high standards
and is somewhat snobbish. After his mother
dies, he becomes incensed with the lower-class
woman his father hires as their housekeeper,
Joan (Helena Bonham Carter). Joan, who
lives in public housing, which in England
is referred to as estate housing, eventually
marries his dad.
The role of Nigel later entering the film
Casey’s mother, Sharon (Robin Wright).
Missing this film would be an error.
Henry Stern said: Baseball plus Brad
Pitt should make a success out of any film
and “Moneyball” is no exception. Pitt doesn’t
look the way he did in 1991 in “Thelma and
Louise,” his breakout film, but who does? This
movie is exciting, fast paced and seems realistic,
but who knows what goes on behind closed
doors when club executives meet and argue
over players?
Now Through October 3 0 | Tickets and Info at NYBG.org
Quick and easy to reach by Bronx River Parkway or on Metro-North to Botanical Garden Station.
WEEKENDS IN OCTOBER
KIDS IN COSTUME GET IN FREE!*
WITH A HAUNTED SAFARI, LOST HAYRIDE,
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*One child in costume will receive a free child’s general admission ticket with the purchase of one adult full-priced ticket (children under 3 are always free).
Valid for Boo at the Zoo 2011 dates only. May not be combined with any other offer. ©2011 Wildlife Conservation Society
MUSIC
THE SOUNDS
OFBLUE
Page 13
Yorktown Jewelers
WHERE QUALITY AND HONESTY COUNTS
By Bob Putignano
EG Kight “Lip Service” VizzTone
www.EGKight.com
Vocally potent, a stellar band, with excellent studio production equals a 9 rating.
What do you get when someone assembles musicians like; Randall Bramblett (Sea
Level, Bonnie Raitt, and many others,)
Tommy Talton (Cowboy,) veteran session
drummer Bill Stewart, and a top shelf female
vocalist EG Kight? A very strong recording!
Producer Paul Hornsby (no slouch himself
on various keyboards) worked with the
Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels, The
Hour Glass with Duane and Gregg Allman,
Bonnie Bramlett, Bobby Whitlock, Wet
Willie, Eddie’s Hinton & Kirkland, Irma
Thomas, and previous Kight albums has
structured one heck of an recording. As
you would expect there’s that southern
rock groove, yet Kight stamps her own
signature vocals and contributes songwriting (and co-authored) credits on
eleven of the twelve songs, except for
Hornsby’s “It’s Gonna Rain All Night.”
The southern groove is clearly apparent
on the humorous “Sugar Daddies” who
sound like they are cutting back on their
expenditures for their southern belles. A
punching horn section funks up “I’m In It
To Win It,” where Marcus Henderson fires
mightily on alto, plus there’s a very clever
horn ending. The title track is a rocker with
impressive B3 from producer Hornsby, and
tasty piano by the very talented Bramblett.
“Savannah” is a simmering ballad that has
a bit of a jazzy feel as co-author Gil Gillis
triples on guitar, piano and percussion. The
horn section returns on ”Koko’s Song” an
obvious tribute to the great Koko Taylor,
I’m certain Koko would have approved, both
musically and with the appropriate lyrics
that include Wang Dang Doodle, Let the
Good Times Roll, with statements saying
Taylor will always be the Queen of the Blues
and so forth. Note: Kight dedicates this fine
recording to Koko. John Nemeth guests on
“Somewhere Down Deep” and nails it alongside Kight, it’s incredibly soulful as these
two really meld extremely well together.
Checkout the Brothers/Dickey Betts riffs on
“I Can’t Turn Him Off ” courtesy of Tommy
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Talton’s guitar. Hornsby’s “It’s Gonna Rain
All Night” is gorgeous, Kight feels right at
home on this late-night smokey barroom
feeling tune; Hornsby doubles on B3 and
piano and really sets the backdrop for this
(no guitar) beauty. Kight’s “Goodbye” sounds
a bit like the Allman’s with horns, it’s funky
and gritty too with (this time) Bramblett
percolating on the B3. “Married Man”
continues in the Capricorn Records zone on
this haunting ballad that also features some
slick wah-wah from Tommy Talton’s guitar.
Closing this disc is Kight, Joanna Cotton
and Johnny Neel’s (Neel also worked with
the Allman’s,) “I’m Happy Wih the One I
Got Now,” a tune that I’m sure Bonnie Raitt
would easily slip into, but there’s no taking
away from Kight’s vocal prowess here on this
the most bluesy tune included. The lyrics are
pretty sultry and humorous.
“Lip Service” is Kight’s seventh album.
At just forty-five the future continues to look
bright for this classy southern lassie. Kight
vocally impresses from end to end, and (with
the help of Paul Hornsby) both know how to
assemble a stellar band, plus there’s above par
songwriting that is potent. What’s not to like
here? Nothing!
Bob
Putignano
http://www.
SoundsofBlue.com is a contributing
editor to BluesWax, The Westchester Guardian,
and the Yonkers Tribune.
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Page 14
THE SPOOF
Why Bill Clinton Turned Down Dancing With The Stars
By GAIL FARRELLY
Here’s the INSIDE
scoop, not what the former
president told the media
-- that he was too busy.
Yeah, right! Apparently Clinton was ticked
off when DWTS producers nixed his plan
to do a cha-cha to “Hail to the Chief.”
When Clinton protested that this was not
presidential treatment, he was told to put a
sock in it, that he was merely a former president. Ouch! Possible plans for a new feature
(contestants to dance with some invited
guests on the show) completely turned
Clinton off. Especially when he heard that
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
well-known feminist lawyer Gloria Allred
were being considered
as invited guest partners.
Both choices caused
Clinton to quake in his
boots, his dancing boots.
As he indicated to
friends, “According to Forbes Magazine, that
Merkel dame is the most powerful woman in
the world. I wouldn’t have a chance to take
the lead on the dance floor. She’d be leading
me around by the nose.” As for Gloria Allred,
Clinton pointed out that she sues just about
every man in sight. Poor Bill fessed up to his
fear: “She’d sue the pants off me if I happened
to step on her feet once or twice on the dance
floor. I couldn’t risk it. No thanks.” DWTS
producers are moving on to other choices and
are fairly confident that they can snag other
famous folks in the world of U.S. politics.
President Barack Obama and presidential
candidate Ron Paul are front runners for
guest slots.
Learn more about The Farrelly Sisters - Authors
online.
EYE ON THEATRE
Autobiography, Good and Bad
By John Simon
I hope the world is
beginning to realize that the
late Lanford Wilson was—
is—a major playwright, and
that his talents vastly exceed
the two or three best-known efforts. So it is
that the Keen Company is to be congratulated for reviving his 1970 play, “Lemon Sky.”
This relatively early work concerns how
Alan (read Lanford), at age 17, left his good
mother in Omaha to join his father, Douglas,
who abandoned them when Alan was five
to live with Ronnie--his mistress, now wife-in San Diego. Alan, now 30, narrates, but
periodically steps back into the action as he
recalls it, although there are scenes he did not
actually witness.
Living with Doug and Ronnie are their
children, Jerry, 11, and Jack, 6, as well as
two teen-age foster daughters, the scholarly
and abstracted Penny, and the promiscuous
Carol, now bent on luring a young heir into
marriage. Ronnie is an admirable woman,
coping with such things as Doug’s nocturnal
work at an aeronautics factory as well as his
avocation, photography, shooting scantily
clad or unclad girls with whom he tends to
carry on.
The conflict between father and son is
based, first, on the boy’s frequent absences
from work at the same factory, which Alan
wanted as temporary, to leave more time for
his college work, but which his father forcibly
made full-time—absences, by the way, that
many of the other workers and even some of
the overseers frequently indulge in.
Later, what infuriates Doug is Alan’s
abstention from frequenting girls, by way
of incipient homosexuality that the boy
tries unsuccessfully to disguise. Finally,
however, it is Doug’s groping of Penny, and
something I mustn’t reveal involving Carol,
that
precipitate
the climax and
denouement.
Along the way,
there is much else:
Alan’s comments
on
California
lifestyles, movies
and radio shows;
descriptions of the
picturesque landscape, featuring
surrounding
mountains; unsuccessful
picnics;
relations with the
young girls and
younger boys; and much crackling dialogue.
Also fine imagery, as when Alan notes
that, after a mountain fire, “the white negative of the brush” stood high, “like ashes
on a cigarette,” until “you touched it and it
disintegrated.”
Both Keith Nobbs, as Alan, and Kevin
Kilner, as Doug, give commanding performances, with the others, notably Kellie
Overbey as Ronnie, not far behind under
Jonathan Silverstein’s mostly satisfactory
direction and within a simple but adequate
production.
“Lemon Sky” is a fine play about the
problems of coming of age against a partly
dysfunctional background, made tougher by
the boy’s references to how his mother was
treated by Doug, and Doug’s constant angry
denials of wrongdoings past and present.
Throughout all this, Wilson’s sense of humor
and sense of guilt, Alan’s generous empathy
and shaky self-control, progress simultaneously and dramatically, making this a play
one can more than enjoy—actually learn
from.
Jeff Talbott’s “The Submission,” a likewise autobiographical piece, circles around
an interesting idea, but suffers from extraordinarily self-indulgent writing in which
loutish contemporary parlance is reproduced
in stultifying detail, making long stretches as
exciting as relentless running in place.
We have here Danny, a young playwright whose fifth dramatic attempt is
accepted by the prestigious Humana Festival,
albeit under false pretenses. Since it deals
with blacks and crack—though we never get
to see or hear any of it despite repeated assertions of its high quality—Danny has ascribed
its authorship to an imaginary black woman.
This writer is to be played in life, along with
a role in the play, by a young black actress,
Emilie, who, somewhat improbably, is never
found out until the end under rather peculiar
circumstances.
Danny shares an apartment with Pete,
his nontheatrical lover, and spends much of
his time at various branches of a popular food
chain, supposed to be similar yet different,
creating a bit of a design problem. There, as
well as at home, he fraternizes with Trevor,
an actor who does nothing very actorish,
and functions mostly as what he becomes,
Emilie’s lover.
Now one of the play’s main concerns
surfaces: it is, over the period of a year, a
debate between Danny and Emilie about
which is a greater hardship: growing up as a
white homosexual or as a black actress. Since
the time is the present, such ghettoizing
hardly applies to either group, and seems
now less than compelling.
Add to this some unexplained details,
and all that tiresome repetition, as in the
future director of Danny’s play not wanting
“an inkling of impropriety.” There ensues:
“TREVOR: Inkling? EMILIE: Inkling.
TREVOR: He said inkling? EMILIE
He said inkling. TREVOR: Say it again.
EMILIE: Inkling. TREVOR: Inkling.
EMILIE: Ink—DANNY: Um, hello?
EMILIE: Sorry. TREVOR: Sorry. [Beat]
Inkling.” Naturalism rampant.
Possibly worse yet is the prevalent
profanity. The f-word in various permutations appears on almost every page at
least singly, often multiply. Moreover, one
wonders whether a playwright, however
young, would speak the jargon of reiterated
“like”s, “I mean”s and “you know”s to such
deadening effect. The play even ends with
Danny alone, exclaiming the f-word twice,
and nothing else.
Page 15
EYE ON THEATRE
Autobiography, Good and Bad
The acting is good enough from
Jonathan Groff (Danny), Will Rogers
(Trevor), Eddie Kaye Thomas (Pete) and
Rutina Wesley (Emilie). Walter Bobbie’s
direction and the various production values
are apt. But, finally, the pseudonymous and
eponymous submission of a manuscript
is much less absorbing than the tedious
submission exacted from the audience.
“Play It Cool” may only play at being cool,
but there are moments when, in its warmedover way, it goes down easily enough.
Photos by and courtesy of Richard Termine.
John Simon has written for over 50 years on
HOUSING
Monarch at Ridge Hill Announces a New
Advertising Campaign for Fall Season
theatre, film, literature, music and fine arts for the
Hudson Review, New Leader, New Criterion,
National Review,New York Magazine, Opera
News, Weekly Standard, Broadway.com and
Bloomberg News. He reviews books for the New
York Times Book Review andWashington
Post. He has written profiles for Vogue, Town
and Country, Departures and Connoisseur and
produced 17 books of collected writings. Mr.
Simon holds a PhD from Harvard University
in Comparative Literature and has taught at
MIT, Harvard University, Bard College and
Marymount Manhattan College.
To learn more, visit the JohnSimonUncensored.com website.
TICKET PRICES INCLUDE
A COMPLETE MEAL & SHOW
Sleek New Ad Campaign Showcases Idea of “Long Live Excess”
Yonkers, NY -- Monarch at Ridge Hill,
Yonkers’ groundbreaking “New Urbanism”
residential development, has launched a
new print, online and outdoor advertising
campaign based on the concept of “Long Live
Excess.” The premier property’s latest promotional effort boasts a fresh energy and attitude,
and is focused on introducing New York to a
new kind of luxury living in Westchester.
“We were blown away when we visited
the property so we took their extensive
amenities package, the luxurious apartments,
and the overall quality of life, and we put it out
there,” said James Baldi, CEO and creative
director at Warehouse Agency. “‘Long Live
Excess’ is a battle cry; our call to action that
people can live really well at Monarch.”
Told from the Monarch resident’s point
of view, the new ad campaign is creating a
buzz with regal, portrait-style photography
supported by statements about a life of
extreme comfort and convenience. A modern
iconic logo and royal blue color complement
a branding that promises an abundantly superior life.
Earlier this year, Monarch’s development team Horizon Group LLC selected
Warehouse Agency to promote Monarch’s
world-class luxury condominium community. This Manhattan-based branding and
advertising company recently unveiled a
newly conceived campaign that speaks to
traditions of extravagance and beauty.
Monarch at Ridge Hill will ultimately
include four high-rise towers and house 500
state-of-the-art luxury residences. Tower
One, comprising 12 stories and 162 units, is
complete with move-ins expected in the next
few months.
“We are delighted with Monarch’s
unmistakably aspirational ad campaign,” said
David Marom, president of the Horizon
Group. “It makes a strong statement, directly
communicating with prospective buyers
asking, “Are you Monarch?”
“ WISE, WITTY, AND
– NY HERALD TRIBUNE
WINNING.”
Westchester Broadway Theatre Group
WBT_theatre
LERNER & LOEWE’S THEATRICAL
MASTERPIECE ON STAGE NOW
“I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT”
“THE RAIN IN SPAIN” • “ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE”
With a three-tier teaser ad campaign in
place, Monarch’s advertisements are grabbing people’s attention with striking slogans
such as, “It’s like we’re kids again; really, really
spoiled kids” and “Why have plenty, when
you can have everything?” The second phase
of this bold campaign will be rolled out next
year.
With meticulous attention to detail,
Andres Escobar and Associates, a leader in
cutting-edge interior design, has integrated
a 21st-century desire for environmentally
friendly features with a modern and stylish
composition. To minimize energy consumption, individual thermostats control efficient
natural gas heating and cooling. In addition,
continuously filtered air and 24/7 bathroom
and kitchen exhaust will enhance indoor air
quality and comfort. The project has applied
for the silver LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) certification
from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Spacious floor plans – with ceilings as
tall as 10 feet, high-end finishes and careful
attention to detail – create warm and inviting
homes. All kitchens are outfitted with stateof-the-art stainless steel appliances, sleek
cabinetry and Caesar Stone quartz countertops. Each home has eco-friendly bamboo
flooring in the kitchen, dining and living
Pothole repairs, as provincial
as they may seem, are the
solemn responsibilities of
bureaucrats in a civil and just
locality. The proper execution
of these tasks by city officials
is no less fundamental to
the conduct of our civic and
commercial life than the
provision of national defense
and law and order by the
nation and states.
Stephen I. Mayo,
manufacturing executive-attorney
ReNewRochelle.com
Stephen
F O R N EW R O C H E L L E
City Council | District 6
An Independent Professionally
Diverse Leader and Advocate
Stephen
Page 16
HOUSING
Monarch at Ridge Hill Announces a New Advertising Campaign for Fall Season
rooms. Many of Monarch’s Westchester
condo residences offer terraces and balconies
with views of the Palisades, the top of the
George Washington Bridge and even the
Empire State Building.
In the 25,000-square-foot Monarch
Atrium, residents can sunbathe and take a
swim in the cabana-equipped outdoor pool,
do a few laps in the indoor pool, play tennis
or basketball, practice their swing on a golf
simulator or work out in a two-story gym
with running track. Those more inclined to
relax can indulge in the luxurious spa with
sauna, or take a moment to look at the breathtaking view from the observation deck. Other
building amenities include 24-hour concierge,
a wine cellar, the Residents Lounge with
bar, kitchen, iPod station, game table, darts,
billiards, Wii and PlayStation, and a business
center with WiFi and library. A children’s
playroom, playground and bicycle storage area
make Monarch at Ridge Hill a true familyfriendly building.
“Residents will have all the conveniences
and excitement of a New Urban environment with the greenery and beauty of the
suburbs,” continues Marom, noting that a
short walk along landscaped walkways will
bring residents to an open-air plaza that
resembles a town center, where they’ll find
12 blocks of elegant shopping, restaurants
and entertainment. Just a few of these include
Lord & Taylor, Orvis, L.L. Bean, Sephora,
Whole Foods, The Cheese Cake Factory,
Brio Tuscan Grille and a 12-screen Cinema
De Lux multiplex. Westchester’s Ridge Hill is
also home to WESTMED Medical Group, a
large multi-specialty group practice. The retail,
restaurant and commercial components of
Ridge Hill are being developed by the Forest
City Ratner Companies.
Yonkers is the fourth largest city in the
State of New York and is in the midst of a fullscale revitalization. Yonkers is home to many
parks, including the Hudson River Esplanade
Park, Tibbetts Brook Park with soccer, football and lacrosse fields and the 278-acre Sprain
Ridge Park with picnic areas, pool complex,
arboretum and hiking trail. Just four miles
from Monarch at Ridge Hill is the Hudson
River Museum with great exhibits for the
family and just five miles from Monarch is the
Dunwoodie Public Golf Course with driving
range, club house and practice greens; across
the street is Stew Leonard’s.
The on-site Sales Gallery is located at
One Ridge Hill Road in Yonkers, New York.
Monarch is being marketed by Houlihan
Lawrence. The Sales Gallery is open by
appointment Thursday through Monday.
For more information, contact
Monarch at Ridge Hill at 914-375-3710,
visit the website at www.MonarchRH.com
or e-mail [email protected].
ENVIRONMENT
Attempting to Legalize the Installation of Sewage Systems on Hen Island
By RAYMOND J. TARTAGLIONE
Mayor French is attempting to legalize
the installation of sewage systems for an
entire community without first complying
with the necessary statutory requirements
including draft or environmental impact
statements, engineering reports or studies
of any kind. The residents of Rye need to be
informed of what the ramifications will be in
Rye if composting toilets are allowed to be
installed on Hen Island.
It should be noted that the installation of
chemical, incinerating or composting toilets,
are not a remedy to the current sewage pollution problem on Hen Island and they may
in actuality cause more of an environmental
and health problem than the present systems.
Although there are many different types
of chemical, incinerating and composting
toilets, the process work factors are similar
but none of the systems treat gray water in
any way. Therefore, if Hen Island is allowed
to install composting systems, according to
New York State codes, homeowners will
have to use their present illegal systems for
the handling of liquid effluents or install
new systems for the treatment of gray water.
Gray water, defined as dishwashing residuals,
along with bathing and showering residuals,
all produce microorganisms, pathogens and
non-degradable chemicals. Gray water usage
is estimated to account for up to 40 gallons
per person, per day.
The recently, improperly permitted
and installed composting systems on the
south and middle sections of the Island
can evidence this. At the time of construction of the south end cottage, in addition
to installing an incinerating toilet without
the compost batch to 55 gallon sealed drums
and storing them for one year in the sun to
meet minimum public health risks.
There is an unwritten mandate within
regulatory agencies that the general population cannot be left to deal with their own
excrement. These issues of sewage treatment and potable water are very delicate
and in-depth issues that should be handled
by professionals that have undertaken
studies, visited the site, explored alternatives
and come to conclusions based on scientific research and experience. A portion of
the current New York State codes is copied
below for reference.
New York State Septic System
Design Regulations 75-A.10 states:
Health Department approval, the owner illegally installed a new sewage disposal system
to handle his gray water effluents. Similarly,
the middle island cottage owner still uses his
pre-existing system that continues to pollute
the waters of the Long Island Sound due to
its placement in a water table of less than two
feet.
Most notable is that all composting
toilets require some type of consistent electricity for both heat elements and air flow
fans used for evaporation. Many homes on
Hen Island have no electricity and those that
do, have solar electrical systems with limited
capacity and they cannot leave solar systems
on when they are not in residence.
Other potential problems include
personal health threats, as well as to the
community at large from lack of use, bad
carbon/nitrogen mixes, too much moisture,
refusal of users to follow instructions, and
personal contact contamination when the
user is empting the unit if the composting
process has not been thorough and complete.
It is also cautioned that when empting a
composting unit the handler should wear
protective gloves and a mask. The biggest
problem is the potential for composting
toilets to become a habitat for vectors. These
can be any critter that can carry a pathogen to
a more common human living environment.
These vectors include mosquitoes, flies, mice,
and rats, etc.
If it has been determined that if there is
major problem with the compost batch in a
home, the owner will have to use a process
called a “MAJOR PROBLEM DEFAULT
SEQUENCE” which includes transferring
“b. Non-waterborne Systems
1. General – In certain areas of the State
where running water is not available or
is too scarce to economically support
flush toilets, or where there is a need or
desire to conserve water, the installation
of non-water-borne sewage systems may
be considered however, the treatment of
wastewater from sinks, showers, or other
facilities must be provided when nonflush toilets are installed.
2. Chemical and Recirculating Toilets
i. Chemical toilets provide a toilet seat
located directly above a vault containing
chemicals to disinfect and remove odors
from the wastewater. Recirculating toilets use
chemicals as the toilet flush fluid. The wastes
are separated from the fluid, wastes
ENVIRONMENT
Attempting to Legalize the Installation of Sewage Systems
on Hen Island
discharged to an internal holding tank and the
fluid reused.
ii. The liquids used in these types of toilets do
not completely disinfect the wastes, therefore waste
products from these units shall not be discharged
to surface waters or to the ground surface.
iii. The reduced volume wastewater from
recirculating toilets may be discharged to a larger
holding tank but not to a subsurface absorption
system.”
Rather than requiring homeowners to install
systems that do not remediate the current sewage
issues, the Board along with the City of Rye
should be encouraging and recommending the
undertaking of studies on how we can address all
four issues (sewage, potable water, mosquitoes, and
lack of regular maintenance) currently risking the
health and safety of the community.
We believe that due to a personal relationship between Rye’s Mayor Doug French and his
neighbor on Meadow Place, (who is also a Hen
Island resident) that the City of Rye is encouraging
and attempting to change the codes and zoning to
allow composting systems on Hen Island. Mayor
French is trying to fast track this issue due to
current and past pressure as a result of his failure
to enforce sewage, potable water, maintenance
and the worst mosquito infestation in a residential
community in Westchester County. Additionally
Mayor French is attempting to legalize the installation of sewage systems for an entire community
without first complying with the necessary statutory requirements including draft or environmental
impact statements, engineering reports or studies
of any kind. He has public stated that “composting
system are an easy fix to the problem on Hen
Island”. Unfortunately he has failed to state all
of the short comings of composting systems and
that composting systems are alternative systems
that are used in remote residential locations where
sewer access is not available.
The Board of Directors along with Mayor
French would not like the public to know that an
easement is in place on Hen Island. We presently
have incorporated in our deed a utility easement
that can be exercised by the Hen Island community that would allow sewage and potable water
to be handled according to regulations. Although
ultimately the Mayor “MAY” be successful in
creating code and zoning changes before his term
is complete he will most likely spark multiple law
suits that will affect the Hen Island community,
cause taxpayers to waste more money and ultimately cause Hen Island to rectify the problems
the right way after he is no longer in office. This
could happen after residents have spent thousands
of dollars to install composting systems in vain.
With regards to the covering of water tanks
that store water for domestic use on the Island,
this inappropriate fix is also being suggested to
calm complaints from Rye residents particularly
concerned about the many mosquito breeding
sites allowed to continue on Hen Island. These
mosquito breeding sites are as a result of stored
stagnant water in tanks, (approximately 1000
gallons per household X 33 homes) filling in the
buffer zone with debris (which creates rain water
ponds) and a general lack of maintenance on the
Island.
The first requirement of any effective mosquito
control program is to remove any standing water.
The Board of Director’s recommendation to cover
the water is not and will not be effective as the
water that has been stored in horse troughs for
years has been covered in the past to stop leaves
and other debris from clogging the home water
systems. These covers cannot stop the mosquito
breeding as the inlet openings have to be open
to receive incoming water. Even in situations in
the mid west where animal troughs are necessary
to accommodate drinking water for animals, the
remedy to eliminate mosquito breeding from these
troughs is to allow continual water flow which will
break the life cycle of the larva. Continual water
flow on Hen Island is not possible as there is no
running water on the Island.
Additionally the covering of water collected
from rooftops (infected with bird feces) and
pumped in homes for domestic use, does not
address the absence of potable water in cottages on
Hen Island. Residents will still be required to wash
dishes, cooking utensils and shower in bird feces
infected water collected from rooftops.
The Hen Island attorney, Rye’s Mayor Doug
French and the Board of Directors have no experience in this field and should not determine
our future and the future health concerns of our
neighbors.
It has been rumored that this is a fight within
a community between neighbors on Hen Island.
In looking at the small picture this may be true but
in the larger frame of things, it should be noted
that these issues affect everyone not only in Green
Haven, Milton Point and Rye but also every
community that uses the Long Island Sound.
The future health and safety of not only our
community but also the neighboring Milton
Harbor, Green haven, Milton Point and Rye will
be affected by these inappropriate decisions if
they are allowed to happen. If Mayor French and
the Board of Directors for Hen Island were truly
concerned with the health and safety of residents,
they would both suggest and mandate appropriate
studies along with the proper remedies and stop
this charade of “we are fixing the problem.”
Raymond J. Tartaglione is the
HEALtheHARBOR.com Webmaster.
www.
Page 17
Page 18
GovernmentSection
MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN
GOVERNMENT
Village Laws and Safety
By MARY C. MARVIN
September seems like
the opportune time to review
Village laws relating to
safety given that our streets
and sidewalks are busy with
returning students and residents.
The areas adjacent to all of the schools in
the Village, including our nursery schools, are
school zones with a 20mph speed limit. Our
police officers are monitoring these areas with
radar and unfortunately folks are speeding.
In one four hour period, eleven tickets were
written last week at one location.
Our police officers are also enforcing the
no texting and no cell phone use while driving
laws throughout the Village as well as the no
idling law. Both the County and Village laws
prohibit cars and buses to idle in wait for more
than three minutes.
As a reminder, according to New York
State law, sidewalks are for pedestrians and
roads for vehicles. Our officers are noticing far
too many joggers and even students walking
to school in the road. Vehicle and Traffic
Law, section 1156, states that “where sidewalks are provided and they may be used with
safety, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian
to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.
If sidewalks are not provided,
pedestrians must walk only on
the left side of the road facing the
traffic.” I remind homeowners of
the obligation to keep the sidewalk adjacent to one’s home in good repair.
To encourage pedestrians to use sidewalks,
Village staff will be inspecting properties and
the condition of the sidewalk and issuing
violation notices where necessary.
Bicycles may be ridden on sidewalks
throughout the Village if the rider is under the
age of 11. However, no one can ride bicycles or
skateboards on the sidewalks in our two business districts.
Please remember to cross only at corners.
While convenience is tempting, it does not
mean it is safe. A particularly dangerous
crossing is from the library parking lot to the
gym entrance of the school. There are no curb
cuts or crosswalk markings here in an effort to
discourage crossing in mid-traffic.
During school construction we made
accommodations here, perhaps not wisely,
because other entrances to the school building
were closed. They were meant to be temporary in nature. There is a crosswalk 300 feet
away with a traffic control device and not
too far down the street, Theresa, our crossing
guard, helps with safe passage.
Some residents have inquired about
adding pedestrian walk signs at the Pondfield
Road/Midland Avenue intersection. The
current light system is so antiquated that it
cannot take any upgrades. According to New
York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to add
walk buttons would require a configuration
similar to that recently installed at the intersection of Kraft Avenue and Cedar Street
which some residents have found unattractive.
It would also cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has been looked at many
times in the past. However, the Trustees and
I will again review the data associated with
that corner, mindful that safety has to be our
number one priority.
As a refresher, the following are some
rules governing pedestrian “right of way”
in crosswalks according to the Vehicle and
Traffic Law of New York State.
“When a pedestrian is in a marked crosswalk, cars must yield in both directions.”
However, “no pedestrians shall suddenly leave
a curb or other place of safety and walk or run
into the path of a vehicle which is so close that
it is impractical for the driver to yield.” It is
important to remember that a crosswalk is not
an extension of the sidewalk and pedestrians
must exercise judgment before stepping off
a curb. When crossing in mid-street, “every
pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point
other than within a marked crosswalk shall
yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the
roadway.”
The streets around the Bronxville School
are busiest at drop-off and dismissal times
so you may want to arrange errands accordingly. The High School and Middle School
day beings at 7:50AM and ends at 2:45PM.
The Elementary School day commences at
8:30AM and also finishes at 2:45PM. The
approximately 20 minute period around these
times brings many cars to Midland Avenue,
Pondfield Road and Meadow Avenue.
The busy times in town at our eateries
for student lunches are between 11AM and
11:40AM and 12:10PM to 1PM.
Speaking of the business district, we
are very mindful of the numerous “crossing
a double yellow line” infractions and are
increasing enforcement. It is important to
note that our parking enforcement officers are
not police officers and cannot stop cars for this
violation.
Finally, as the leaves begin to come down,
we ask that you keep them out of the roadways. Most communities have a fine for this
but we continue to rely on your good judgment. Wet leaves in roadways have caused
accidents and they also easily migrate to our
drain, clogging the sewers.
If you have suggestions how to make our
Village safer, please e-mail me at mayor@
vobny.com.
Mary C. Marvin is the mayor of the Village of
Bronxville.
GOVERNMENT
On the Campaign Trail in New Rochelle
By PEGGY GODFREY
The New Rochelle
Citizens Reform Club
invited
City
Council
candidates for Districts
1-4 to their September 22
meeting. Only Republican
candidates showed up. Ivar Hyden (Dem.District 4) did let the group know he had
another meeting, but Councilman Jared
Rice (Dem.-District 3) and Roberto Lopez
(Dem.-District 1)) did not respond to a
second email asking whether they were
coming.
But the members of the Reform Club
had a lively meeting and many issues became
quite clear. The first Councilman to speak
was Al Tarantino,.D.2, running unopposed.
He described the new district lines and how
the Democrats are trying to change New
Rochelle. The three Republicans now on
Council have each year advocated to keep
the tax rate under 5%. In trying to revitalize
Hudson Park the Council tested the Tiki
Bar and would reevaluate it this winter. On
the Waterfront Restaurant has a new lease
and was required to renovate. At the Train
station they opened bathrooms and raised
the payments on the Bluebird lease. His
criteria for voting for an item is, “What is the
public benefit for the people who already live
here.” If there is no benefit, he won’t approve
it. When asked about tax incentives to developers he answered it depends on what is
being presented. For a Bloomingdale’s he
would consider a tax abatement. Marino
Michelotti queried, “There was no place to
shop on Main Street, how would retail be
Page 19
GOVERNMENT
On the Campaign Trail in New Rochelle
brought in?” The reply was there are five new
restaurants opening.
Councilman Lou Trangucci (District
1) spoke next. He reminded the group
about the $9 million he had requested and
obtained from Avalon for the land. He also
reminded the audience that Mayor Bramson
was part of the original land disposition
agreement. He also initiated the inquiry
resulting in the 22 felony count indictment
in the Department of Pubic Works by the
District Attorney. As he monitors his district
he advocates for an improved quality of life.
One serious problem is the drop in sales
tax from $25.7 million to $23 million. This
$2.7 million loss can not be made up and
the $100 million in sales will not come back
for a while. $47 million in real estate taxes,
$23 million in sales tax,$14 million in state
aid and $23 million in fees total $107 million
for the City budget. The Mayor, he reminded
the group, wants to build residential but this
will “destroy the city.” The Mayor has the
votes. Can one Democrat be swayed by the
residents to change his or her vote? He was
able to convince the City Manager to use the
Fund Balance to avoid layoffs of Firemen for
a half year.
John D’Alois asked about the Mayor’s
receipt of campaign funds from Forest
City Residential. Trangucci answered that
Councilman Richard St. Paul and Tarantino
and himself, had voted in favor of a resolution which said City Council members
should not take money from anyone doing
business with the City but it was defeated
4-3 on Council. When George Imburgia
asked about sales tax guarantees, Trangucci
answered he had asked Forest City residential (which wilt need approval for a renewal
for the Echo Bay proposal in January 2012)
if they would guarantee the sales tax in their
proposal, the answer was “no.” Bramson in
his view “wants structures to go up.” Ralph
Luccarelli questioned whether a limit could
be placed on tax abatements, and was told
Councilman Richard St. Paul wanted the
Industrial Development Agency (IDA)
members to be appointed by the entire
Council and also discussed abolishing the
New Rochelle IDA. The Republicans have
advocated for more open government and
now the Zoning Board, Planning Board and
IDA meetings are televised.
The candidate in District 3, John Earvin,
began by saying he answers to “anything
close” to his last name. He found New
Rochelle looking for a Bronx address and
six months later he moved here. Lamenting
New Rochelle does not have retail, he felt the
“local politicians need to get their house in
order.” The Democrats hold a 4-3 majority
on Council and he said, his opponent “never
found a vote that wasn’t the same as the
Mayor’s.” Mount Vernon, White Plains
and Port Chester have retail and, referring
to being a former Marine, he commented
he was going to get a plan together to try to
change New Rochelle. In answer to a question from the audience, Earvin said “If I don’t
do things right (as a business) I go out of
business.
The last candidate, Kevin Barrett,
(District 4), shared his background said he
loves beautiful New Rochelle. He took a
bike ride to the Thomas Paine statue which
says, “...The world is my country and to
do good is my religion.” Changing New
Rochelle’s government from 4 Democrats
and 3 Republicans will require people to go
out to vote. He has been knocking on doors
but has not seen his opponent yet. Marino
Michelotti asked his opinion of “building
fortresses with tax abatements.” Barrett
answered he is a real estate broker and bank
manager and has never heard of an 30 year
tax abatement. The developers should take
the risks, and “to make matters worse, the
property was sold with the tax abatement.”
He felt there was too much residential development in New Rochelle. With 5,000 more
people living in the City, sales tax went down.
Retail development never happened. If retail
does not come to the City, taxes will go up.
Steve Mayo, (District 6) was in the audience and mentioned the “tragedy of Main
Street” because north end residents won’t
come downtown. James Jackson stated it
takes a north end resident l0 minutes to get
to Sickles Avenue, and then five minutes
more to Main Street and find a parking space
where he will be greeted by a meter maid. To
go to White Plains takes l0 minutes to get
to department stores there. Dr Joe McNelis
wanted to put the Board of Education
budget under the City, but was he was told
it would take a charter revision to do that.
Former Assemblyman Ron Tocci reminded
the group that the City had a referendum to
elect their Board of Education members, and
felt another referendum was needed to select
Board of Education members by district.
Lorraine Pierce summed up, “These are the
best Council candidates I have seen in New
Rochelle in a very long time.
New Rochelle City Manager Strome Announces Appointments to Iona Planning Committee
New Rochelle, NY -- As part of the
collaborative planning process announced
last month between the City of New
Rochelle and Iona College, City Manager
Charles Strome announced members of the
Iona Planning Committee. The Committee
will examine options for addressing student
housing objectives and other college priorities while also improving the economy and
quality of life for the larger community.
“This committee, comprised of representatives from Iona College, surrounding
neighborhoods and the City administration,
is well-suited for the task at hand,” said City
Manager Charles Strome. “We look forward
to their recommendations.”
The Iona Planning Committee will be
holding its first meeting in mid October.
CHAIRPERSON/FACILITATOR
(Non-Voting Member):
Matthew Fasciano
COUNCIL
REPRESENTATIVES
(Non-Voting Members):
City Council Member District Three
(currently Jared Rice)
City Council Member District Five
(currently Barry Fertel)
CITY REPRESENTATIVES (Voting
Members):
City Manager or his designee
Commissioner of Development or his
designee
NEIGHBORHOOD
REPRESENTATIVES (Voting Members
appointed by City Manager)
Sara Dodds-Brown – Rochelle Heights
Neighborhood Association
Bob Kelly – Beechmont Neighborhood
Association
Madeleine Peters – Greater Mount Joy
Naomi Towers – Mount Joy
Nick Williams – Halcyon Park
IONA REPRESENTATIVES (Voting
Members appointed by President of Iona
College)
Charles Carlson
– Vice Provost for
Student Development
Kyle Harry –
Former
President
of
Iona
Student
Government
Association and current
Graduate
student
and
Admissions
Operations Secretary
Jonathan
Ivec – Vice President for Finance and
Administration
Joseph E. Nyre – President (or designee:
Michele Sampson or others)
Marilyn Wilkie, Acting Vice President
for Advancement and External Affairs
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Please submit your Letter to the Editor electronically, that is by
directing email to [email protected] Please confine your writing
to between 350 and 500 words. Your name, address, and telephone
contact is requested for verification purpose only. A Letter to the Editor
will be accepted at the editor’s discretion when space permits.
A maximum of one submission per month may be accepted.
Page 20
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Senator Greg Ball with Chairman of the SAGE Commission Paul Francis at Tuesday’s economic
summit in Albany, New York.
ALBANY, NY -- Senator Greg Ball
(R, C – Patterson) joined President Bill
Clinton and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
on September 27, 2011, for a daylong
economic summit in Albany, New York.
Among the highlights, was a meeting of
the Spending and Government Efficiency
Commission (SAGE), a 20-member panel
Senator Ball was appointed to by the
Governor to consolidate state government
and save New Yorkers money.
“Unlike what we are seeing in
Congress, we have been able to illustrate
the strength of working together as a team
and in a bipartisan fashion. Working with
Governor Cuomo we cut state spending,
passed an on time balanced budget and
stood firm against all tax hikes, while
proactively capping property taxes across
the state. That type of progress took real
teamwork and I applaud the Governor for
heightening SAGE’s image. I’m honored
to be part of a team that is focused specifically on cutting duplicative services and
getting government out of the way so that
beleaguered entrepreneurs and small businesses can do what they do best: create
jobs!”
“The old way of doing business in
Albany is no longer an option,” said Senator
Ball. “I’m thrilled and applaud Governor
Cuomo for bringing new attention and
focus to our efforts to streamline state
government. Reinventing state government and streamlining our processes to
make New York State open for business
and job creation will be difficult because
of political pitfalls and inner turf battles.
To create jobs and entice new investment
into our state we must cut through the
clutter of state bureaucracy, nepotism and
patronage, the former President is a great
public image boost, making our commitment to the task public and real!”
Senator Ball was appointed the SAGE
Commission on April 19, 2011. The
Commission was charged with looking
at four main areas of opportunity for
improving the performance, efficiency and
accountability of state government:
• Streamline the organizational
structure of State government by
consolidating agencies, authorities, commissions, etc. that have
overlapping missions.
• Identify operational improvements such as shared services,
enhanced use of information
technology and changes in service
delivery mechanisms.
• Develop metrics and targets to
help improve performance and
make government more open,
transparent and accountable.
• Identify non-critical activities that
are less central to the core mission
of agencies or State government.
Several months ago, Senator Ball
launched YouCutAlbany.com, a website
that allows taxpayers to cast votes for
specific wasteful spending items. “We have
literally received hundreds of great ideas,
and as a member of SAGE, I am taking
these nuggets of good information, gleaned
from the community, with me. This
website allows taxpaying citizens to make
decisions on areas they would like to see
cut. I need to hear from the community!”
Page 21
GOVERNMENT
September City Council Updates
By DOUGAS FRENCH
Flood Mitigation Plan
The Council held a
special meeting on Storm
Response and Recovery last
week to update, inform and
get feedback on storm preparedness, relief and
rebuilding. This is a two-step process that is
not just about relief after the fact, but about
preventative funding and a commitment to
mitigate the upstream impact on downstream
flash-flooding that requires a series of sluice
gates and retention ponds. It also requires
effective enforcement on upstream development to detain stormwater - and be held
accountable for it -- while downstream development and replacement be properly elevated
above the 100-year flood elevation levels. Here
is the status of the City’s flood mitigation plan.
While these projects are costly, the total cost
does not come close to the amount of past and
potential future loss with recurring flooding.
Bowman Avenue Dam Sluice Gate
This project will help regulate water flow
downstream. With the passage of the New
York State budget in the spring, final agency
funding was released and the City moved to
an inter-municipal agreement with the Village
of Rye Brook which was just approved. The
site plan is under review for approval later this
month. From there, the City will go out to bid
for the mechanical part and related construction with the project. Total cost is about $2M.
Bowman Ave Dam Upper Pond
Expansion
The grant to study the expansion of the
upper pond which is designed to retain more
water upstream is pending federal review
from agencies such as the EPA. The City will
look to reduce the scope of the study in order
to expedite the initial review. The study will
determine the feasibility and cost/benefit of
expanding the upper pond. The City’s initial
estimate is about $7M to $10M and would
expand capacity of the pond by roughly 30%.
as part of the series of remedies. The City
completed a $2M dredging project in Milton
Harbor a few years ago that has not had the
impact that was hoped for.
Beaver Swamp Brook
In addition to the sound shore coast and
Blind Brook, Beaver Swamp Brook is another
brook in Rye. The City would like to use
the Project Homerun development project
in Harrison to incorporate flood mitigation
remedies at that site for the surrounding area.
1037 Boston Post Road
The City finds itself in a unique position
having paid higher than the appraised value
for a building back in 2006, combined with a
significant drop in the real estate market, and
the inability to continue to lease a building
without an intended public purpose as the
City will not move forward with an estimated
$25M Police Station/Courthouse on the
site. As part of its fiduciary responsibility the
Council is exploring all options -- one of
which could have been to extend the current
zoning by one building that is already in place
in downtown Rye.The Planning Commission
as it’s charged, advised the Council on all of
the potential uses and size parameters that a
Coins & Currency,
Gold & Silver Wanted
zoning change authorized only by the Council
would allow. Potential projects for future
approval and planning review would range
from commercial use, office space, residential and combined retail/residential. As such,
the School Administration was also notified for enrollment projections. Although no
sale or development proposals are currently
under review or have come forward, the
Council determined that given the recent
flooding, increasing school enrollment, traffic
and parking impacts, a zoning change of
this magnitude should not be considered.
Although the standard City procedures for
zoning review were followed in terms of
obtaining planning comment, public notification and public hearings, this is not a standard
situation. As Mayor, given the uniqueness of
the circumstances, this requires an enhanced
process outside the norm that would allow for
broader review and consideration.
Visit the City of Rye Website at www.ryeny.
gov or contact me, City Council members or City
Manager should you need more information.
Douglas French is the mayor of the City of Rye,
New York. [email protected].
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Anderson Hill Road Retention Pond
The Army Corps of Engineers has identified a location on Anderson Hill Road and
SUNY Purchase for a retention pond that
will require a $3M study, one-third of which
will need to be funded by non-federal sources
and approximately 30 months of study. This
project would be tens of millions and would
be coordinated with the Village of Rye Brook,
Town/Village of Harrison and the University.
Downstream dredging to allow water to
run out to the Long Island Sound
Nothing is planned but has been cited
914-649-3317
[email protected]
914.636.7235
399 Huguenot St. New Rochelle, NY
www.newrochelleyamaha.com • www.wheelsportcenter.net
Page 22
THE ALBANY CORRESPONDENT
Ruth On the Move
coalitions, share the concerns of their
constituents, and identify out-of-thebox solutions to the most pressing issues
their communities today.
By CARLOS GONZALEZ facingConference
participants included
the Reverend Jess Jackson, presidential
Albany, NY -- In a state
candidate Herman Cain, Congressman Ron
previously known for a Senate
Paul, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd
mired with dysfunction, a
Whitman, among others.
Bronx/Westchester
senator
“We are so proud of Senator Hassellis reversing such an image nationally and
Thompson and all that she has accomplished,”
has been tapped to serve in leadership of
stated Robin Read, NFWL’s President &
the nation’s oldest organization addressing
CEO. “We are looking forward to her leaderthe needs of elected women at all levels of
ship in the Foundation and I know she will
government.
make this year one of the most exciting and
Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D/
productive years that NFWL has seen.”
WFP- Bronx/Westchester) was recently
Other notables around the nation
elected to serve as the New York State Director
teaming up and working closely with Hassellfor the National Order of Women Legislators
Thompson are Chair-Elect Representative
(NOWL), which was founded in 1938 and
Gayle Harrell (FL), Past Chair Senator Swati
serves as the membership arm of the National
Dandekar (IA), board member’s Senator
Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL),
Diane Allen (NJ), Senator Linda Coleman
at the 2011 NFWL Annual Conference, this
(AL), Representative Helene Keeley (DE),
year hosted in Des Moines, Iowa.
and Clerk Susan Mendoza (IL).
“I am honored that my colleagues from
Senator Hassell-Thompson will begin
across the nation have selected me for this
serving in her new position immediately,
esteemed position within the Foundation’s
and will hold this office through 2012, when
leadership,” said Hassell-Thompson through
the Foundation hosts NFWL’s Annual
a press release that arrived at our desk from
Conference next fall, November 15-19, 2012.
Washington, D.C. “I look forward to building
The position is unpaid.
stronger relationships with elected women
Senator Hassell-Thompson has not
throughout New York State and across state
been idle during her tenure as a member
lines. The National Foundation for Women
of the New York State Legislature. While
Legislators offers many important programs
in the former Senate Democratic Majority,
and initiatives for women to learn about and
Hassell-Thompson spearheaded and passed
use to assist their own constituents.”
a legislative package which fundamentally
According to the release, hundreds of
restructured matrimonial law to improve the
elected women gathered in Iowa August 11-15
process and outcome of divorce for all New
for NFWL’s Annual Conference to identify
Yorkers, particularly women and children who
effective solutions to some of the nation’s
are often the most vulnerable when marriages
most timely and pressing issues. Providing a
are dissolved.
non-partisan environment that encourages
Another huge victory For Hasselldialogue and the sharing of information and
Thompson was the passage of a law
experiences, women leaders are able to build
establishing a formula for judges to use in
determining the “Post-Marital Income” in
a divorce. Though passage was a collaborative effort, insiders in Albany give full credit
to Hassell-Thompson for rising up and
demanding passage.
“YOU”RE NEXT” BILLBOARDS
Not so much Westchester-related, but
it’s certainly newsworthy. Billboards have
been purchased and going up around the
Capital blasting GOP Sen. Roy McDonald
of Saratoga.
The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) today announced that it has launched
a billboard campaign in the districts of state
Senators Mark Grisanti, Stephen Saland,
James Alesi and Shirley Huntley to hold them
accountable for their vote last June to redefine
marriage in New York.
The new billboards say of the individual
state Senator, “You’re Next” and is intended as
a reference to the defeat of David Weprin in
the 9th Congressional District. NOM funded
a major independent expenditure campaign
in the Weprin race, making his vote to redefine marriage a decisive issue in his defeat in
a district Democrats have held since the early
1920s.
“Just like David Weprin discovered earlier
this month when he faced voters after redefining marriage, Mark Grisanti, Stephen
Saland, James Alesi, Roy McDonald and
Shirley Huntley will soon discover that the
people of New York will not sit idly by while
the institution of marriage is redefined without
voters having any say in the matter,” said Brian
Brown, president of NOM. “NOM and our
Let The People Vote” coalition will not rest
until these legislators are turned out of office
and the people of New York are allowed to
vote on the definition of marriage.”
The group indicated to the Westchester
Guardian that it has invested $40,000 on the
highly visible billboard campaign.
VETO IS CERTAIN - CUOMO
Toward the end of an interview today
with Susan Arbetter on The Capitol Pressroom,
Gov. Andrew Cuomo made perhaps his
most direct comments yet on his vow to
veto the new legislative lines drawn by the
LATFOR, The New York State Legislative
Task Force on Demographic Research and
Reapportionment.
When asked if he would veto the lines
drawn by the lawmaker-run commission,
Cuomo said, “yes.”
“I don’t see how a non-independent
process can produce an independent product,”
he added. “I therefore would veto a bill that is
not an independent product. It would therefore go to the courts. That’s what I’ve said and
that’s what I’m sticking by.”
The statement on LATFOR today from
Cuomo is significant because it removes some
confusion about whether the governor would
veto lines he considers “unfair” or simply
non-independent.
Cuomo has said he wants an independent
commission to draw state and federal legislative boundaries. Still, he has no plans to call
the Legislature back to Albany before the end
of the year to do so because no agreement is in
place for a commission.
Senate Democrats are particularly
pushing for an independent redrawing of the
lines in 2012. Because of their enrollment
advantage in the state, Democrats feel they
have a good shot of reclaiming control of the
Senate, which is divided 32-30.
Republicans argue that the redistricting
issue is a Senate Minority smokescreen, led
by an “administration that has no legislative
agenda but to reclaim perks for their members
in exchange of protecting taxpayers.”
LABOR
Westchester Medical Center: World Class Medicine
Unless You Work There!
By NANCY KING
During any election cycle
here in Westchester County,
the phrase Westchester
Medical Center (WMC) rolls off the tongues
of candidates and incumbents alike. More
often than not the phrase is related to some
irrelevant data that has nothing to do with the
Medical Center, or more often than not, it has
to do with keeping an eye on how this county
institution is administering care and spending
money. More often than not I want to scream
out to those dopey politicians, “It’s not a county
run facility you nincompoop, its private.” Of
course it’s easier to bite one’s tongue than to
engage in public humiliation, but it is indeed
time to take a look at Westchester County’s
second largest employer.
Originally a hospital facility for the U.S.
Army, WMC in its earliest form was created
as a recovery facility for soldiers suffering from
the Spanish flu in 1918. At that time, it was
staffed by volunteer physicians! The 1920’s
and 30’s saw the facility used as a treatment
center in the country for patients recovering
from tuberculosis. It was at that time that
the hospital and its property were renamed
Grasslands. And if you are over 50 years of
age and live in the immediate proximity of
the Grasslands Reservation, you will also
remember that it was a working farm complete
with livestock. At that time, the facility was
also known as the “County Home.” From that
time, up until 1998, The Grasslands Hospital
was a county run entity.
In 1998, though, Westchester Medical
Center became an independent institution by
breaking away from county government. In its
new format, the Westchester Medical Center
is a public benefits corporation that just so
happens to sit on some county property. But
the new Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)
encountered some serious financial problems
in those early years and required millions of
Page 23
LABOR
Westchester Medical Center: World Class Medicine
dollars in bailout money. Of course everyone
has their own personal theory as to why
WMC was on the brink of collapse ranging
from the treatment of non-paying patients, to
administrators padding their salaries. Perhaps
the simplest reason was that former CEO
Ed Stolzenberg didn’t understand that since
it was a private corporation, and not a county
run ATM machine, that when that ATM was
empty, it really wasn’t up to the county to refill
it with cash. Whatever the case was, the years
2004 thru 2006 saw a multi-million dollar
bailout of WMC orchestrated by then Senator
Nick Spano and then Assemblymen Richard
Brodsky and Adam Bradley. Of course the
New York State taxpayers footed the bill.
In the years that have followed, WMC has
enjoyed success financially and from a public
relations perspective. Management would beg
to differ however, and would want the general
public to believe that WMC is currently on
life support.
With the designation of being a Level I
trauma center, its world renowned transplant
center, and with the opening of the Maria
Fareri Children’s Hospital, the vast majority
of news coming out of WMC has been positive. But as their Public relations Department
spins feel good stories and commercials about
WMC, very quietly, the administration has
been terminating employees and discontinuing programs. Since 2010, the onsite laundry
has been closed and laundry is now shipped
out to a private vendor. The CEPEP program
that provided crisis care has been discontinued
and with that is the loss of experienced mental
health workers. Ward 29, which housed prisoners from the county jail, has been replaced
(by the county) with a private agency that
provides inmate care. Portions of the emergency room have been outsourced and
Sodexho, the corporation that provides the
food service to the hospital, is poised to take
over more departments.
This spells big trouble for Local 9201.
As they get ready to negotiate a contract,
union leaders will not only have to work out
agreeable terms for their members, they will
also be combating management’s clear intention of union busting by the elimination of
jobs through program elimination and then
re-instating them with outside non-union
vendors. It’s also hard to maintain the morale
of the employees when they are compared to
General Motors before their bailout. Imagine
showing up for work every day, doing your job
to the best of your ability and then hearing
that the Westchester Medical Center and its
employees are just like General Motors, in the
fact that they are just too big, and can’t provide
a quality product. Such as that paraphrased
phrase has been uttered at board meetings and
in department meetings, it is no wonder that
there is a morale issue at WMC. Management
here, like in any other corporate environment
has forgotten that it is it’s workers, whether
they work in an operating room or maintain
complex electrical panels, are the very people
who do indeed provide a quality product.
Union leaders across the state are facing
the very same dilemma of those in both the
WMC and at the County. Union workers
are being quietly intimidated from reporting
“abuses” by management. At WMC, workers
have shared that there have been no employee
annual reviews since early spring and thus no
annual raises. A cost savings strategic move
by management, but more importantly, it has
become another tool to instill fear in union
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Legislators From Across the State Train for 3rd
Legislators’ Harness Race at Yonkers Raceway
By FRANK DRUCKER
YONKERS, NY -- Yonkers Raceway
is busily preparing for its third annual Fall
Harvest Festival. The free family-fun event,
set for Saturday, October 22, runs from
5:30pm to 9:30pm on the track apron at
Yonkers Raceway and showcases the thriving
relationship between horse racing and agriculture all across New York State.
Among the Fall Harvest Festival highlights is the third Legislators Challenge,
in which New York State Senators and
Assembly Members compete in four nonwagering harness races (with some help from
workers. Folks are fearful about asking a supervisor to perform the review feeling that they
will receive an unfavorable review thus setting
the stage for their ultimate dismissal. They also
feel that if they go to their union shop stewards, they will be targeted as whistle blowers
who need to be silenced. Of course this sort
of thought process keeps good workers from
exercising their rights to file a grievance. Those
union workers who have been denied a review
should certainly ask for one since it is their
right. According to contract, management
can’t deny a step raise even if they don’t provide
a review. Members should always request an
annual review because being a union member
is about protecting the American worker.
If a union worker doesn’t speak up about
the mismanagement by management, then
they will ultimately lose. Union busting is
nothing new, but in a depressed economy,
the American worker, especially if they are a
union member, can and are easily targeted by
management.
The management at WMC is no
different. With upwards of more than 25
senior executives and vice presidents, it is
one of the most top heavy of PBC’s. CEO
Michael Israel makes $1.24 million a year, and
overall, top executives and vice presidents have
made $10.6 million annually. Their mission
of providing health care no matter what a
patient’s financial and insurance situation
has been lost. The Westchester Health Care
Corporation is concerned with one thing, and
one thing only, and that is to make a profit. So
strong is their conviction to make that profit
that they have forgotten about all of those cogs
that make their wheel move forward.
As this issue of The Westchester Guardian
goes to print, the nurses’ union at WMC
is negotiating their contract. According
to members of NYSNA (New York State
Nurses Association) management has walked
out of negotiations because they won’t even
entertain the nurse’s contract proposals. I
guess the slick ad campaign about world
class healthcare doesn’t apply to those who
provide the bulk of that care. The Westchester
Medical Center will endure. It will probably
even remain a PBC because one hopes that
somewhere a vice president or manager will
have an epiphany and remember that the original mission statement of this Public Benefits
Corporation and its workers is what has made
this facility a place of World Class Medicine.
Next week’s final installment will take a
look at what happened when the union was
prevented from forming at the New York
Hospital, Cornell Medical Center.
Nancy King is a resident of Greenburgh, New
York.
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professional harness racing drivers).
In fact, several of the would-be drivers
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Page 24
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Legislators From Across the State Train for 3rd Legislators’ Harness Race at Yonkers Raceway
rbial “leg-up” over their rivals. Senator Tony
Avella (D-Queens), Assemblyman Andrew
Raia (R-Suffolk), Assemblywoman Addie
Russell (D- Jefferson & St. Lawrence), and
Assemblyman Michael Spano (D- Yonkers)
are pictured training at Yonkers Raceway.
Two-time champ Assembly Racing and
Wagering Committee Chair, Gary Pretlow
(D- Mt. Vernon) showed up not to train, but
to check out the competition. Senator Martin
Malave Dilan (D-Brooklyn) is scheduled to
train on Saturday, October 1st.
As of this writing, the scheduled participants for the October 22nd Legislators
Challenge include...Assemblyman Michael
R. Benedetto (D-Bronx), Assemblyman
Philip M. Boyle (R- Suffolk), Assemblyman
Nelson Castro (D-Bronx), Assemblyman
Michael J. Cusick (D–Staten Island),
Assemblyman Michael G. DenDekker (D–
Queens), Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszyk
(D– Erie), Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow
(D–Mount Vernon), Assemblyman Andrew
P. Raia (R–Suffolk), Assemblywoman Addie
J. Russell (D– Jefferson/St. Lawrence),
Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R- Nassau),
Assemblyman Mike Spano (D–Yonkers),
Senator Tony Avella (D–Queens),
Senator Greg R Ball (R–Dutchess/
Putnam), Senator Martin Malave
Dilan (D–Brooklyn), Senator Ruth
Hassell-Thompson (D–Mount
Vernon/Bronx) and Senator Kevin
Parker (D–Brooklyn). Race time is
5:30pm on Saturday, October 22,
2011.
It must be noted that
Assemblymen Castro, Cusick and
Pretlow won their Challenge divisions last year, with Mr. Pretlow in
fact going after a three-peat.
The Fall Harvest Festival also includes
pony rides, a petting zoo, pumpkin painting
and musical entertainment, along with New
York State apple, cheese and wine product
sampling. There is also a free pineconescented candle giveaway for Empire Club
members, and drawings for $50 betting
vouchers, courtesy of Blue Chip Farms. Of
course, a full card of parimutuel races is also
part of the evening.
The New York Sire Stakes Fall Harvest
Series races remain scheduled for next
Saturday night, October 8.
Yonkers’ current live schedule (Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday)
remains in effect, with first post at 7:10
PM. Evening simulcasting accompanies all
live programs, with afternoon simulcasting
available around the NYRA schedule.
Wednesday afternoon simulcasting ends at
approximately 5:30 PM.
Photo by and courtesy of Sean Hamrock and
Mike Rooney.
Frank Drucker is Yonkers Raceway Publicity
Director.
Op EdSection
We Need to Define Poverty Before We Measure It
By LARRY M. ELKIN
Most of us would say that
a homeless person with an
undiagnosed mental illness,
no job, no marketable skills
and no bank account is “poor.”
Does the label still apply if that person wins a
$1 million lottery jackpot?
What about a doctor just out of medical
school who has $200,000 in debt, no savings,
and a residency that pays $40,000 a year for
long hours of arduous work? Is this also an
example of poverty?
Is an aspiring novelist “poor” if she has
a newly minted liberal arts degree from
a prestigious college, $100,000 in debt, a
minimum-wage day job and no history of
selling any books? How about the novelist’s
co-worker, who has the same income but has
no debt and no higher education?
We are much better at counting poor
people than we are at identifying them. This
makes no sense, and it explains why decades
of anti-poverty programs have made little
headway at actually reducing poverty.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
2.6 million more Americans were poor in
2010 than in 2009. That brought the poverty
rate to 15.1 percent of Americans, the highest
since 1993.
Critics of the official poverty index,
which is based on comparing food costs
to income, point out that it ignores many
significant financial dimensions, including
non-cash government assistance such as food
stamps, as well as non-food expenses such
as out-of-pocket medical expenses, transportation and child care. Various alternative
measures have been created, but so far none
have caught on.
I believe we approach poverty from the
wrong direction. Most definitions of poverty
focus on an individual’s circumstances – how
much money the person has, or how much
income the person receives, compared to
some benchmark.
I think of poverty as a human condition
that does not change as quickly or readily as
circumstances. A poor person, in my view,
is one who cannot adequately provide for
himself, or who cannot conserve and manage
what resources are available to him.
No wonder anti-poverty efforts ultimately fail when they merely provide cash
or goods. If you hand a poor person a check,
you still have a poor person, just one who has
some money at the moment. The Chinese
understood this when they created the
proverb about the difference between giving
a man a fish and teaching him to fish.
If we measure poverty according to net
worth or according to single-year income,
the homeless lottery winner is richer than
the young doctor, the aspiring novelist and
the minimum-wage worker. In fact, the latter
two might already be part of the 15.1 percent
of the population that is officially considered
poor.
But I would consider the mentally ill,
homeless person to be the poorest of the
group. Winning $1 million may temporarily
change this person’s circumstances, but it will
not change his condition. With no financial
skills and an untreated, disabling illness, the
lottery winner is likely to quickly squander
his windfall and revert to his former situation.
The minimum wage worker, lacking
skills or opportunity to better his financial
circumstances, also qualifies as poor in my
book. But the aspiring novelist working at
the same job for the same minimum wage
does not – even though the novelist has
$100,000 of debt.
The novelist’s degree from a prestigious
school is a pretty good indicator that she has
opted to follow a personal dream instead of
choosing a different, more financially secure
path. This person’s education and intellectual
skills should continue to provide opportunities that the unskilled minimum-wage
co-worker does not have. Poverty by choice
ought not to be seen as poverty at all, at least
for purposes of making public policy.
And what about the doctor? The
doctor has the lowest net worth, at negative $200,000, of the entire group. When we
consider that most minimum-wage-earners
are entitled to overtime at time-and-a-half,
the doctor, on a per-hour basis, may make
even less than the official minimum wage.
But hardly anyone would consider the doctor
to be truly poor. While medicine is not
the automatic ticket to wealth and luxury
that people assumed it to be when I was
growing up, it still provides a decent living
– and provides enormous intellectual and
emotional satisfaction to a lot of very smart
people, not to mention the benefits to society.
We cannot make the unskilled worker
or the disabled homeless person “non-poor”
just by giving them cash or goods; doing so
only perpetuates their poverty while masking
its symptoms. To reduce poverty, we have to
offer tangible help in the form of skills, treatment or some sort of structure to manage
resources. This is why financial planners like
me help clients set up special needs trusts for
disabled family members. (My colleagues
Shomari Hearn and Anna Pfaehler have
written a very good article on this topic.)
Besides tangible help, opportunity is the
other vital ingredient in a recipe to reduce
poverty, as well as the pseudo-poverty that
comes from unemployment of capable
people. The truly poor have little chance of
Page 25
OPED
We Need to Define Poverty Before We Measure It
escaping poverty when even their formerly
better-off neighbors cannot find work. Some
people seem to believe it is the wealthy – the
people who not only have money, but also the
skills (personal or hired) to retain it – who
suffer most when businesses struggle with
scarce capital, high taxes and onerous regulation. But if you ask someone who is desperate
to find work in order to prevent her family
from bouncing from one shelter to another,
you’ll get a different viewpoint. A breadwinner who needs a job does not care how
rich the boss gets from her labor.
The deep recession and rotten recovery
has hurt a lot of people. It has cost homes,
jobs, savings, marriages and more. It has
pushed far too many households down to
poverty-level income and net worth. But it
No Hijab, No Peace
Analyzing the Rye Playland Incident
By DAVID J. RUSIN
http://www.islamist-watch.org/
blog/2011/09/no-hijab-no-peace-analyzingthe-rye-playland
In a controversy sure to fuel the accommodation debate, 15 people were arrested on
August 30 at Rye Playland, an amusement
park in Westchester County, New York,
following a melee that involved Muslims
objecting to the prohibition of head coverings
on certain rides. One young woman’s refusal to
remove her headscarf apparently led to altercations among Muslims, who then scuffled with
security officials. Their legal cases have been
adjourned until October.
Despite claims of discrimination, the
park’s rules on headgear are neutral with
respect to faith and have a single goal. “It’s a
safety issue on rides. If it’s a scarf,
you could choke,” explained Peter
Tartaglia, Westchester deputy
parks commissioner. Indeed, a
Muslim woman was strangled
to death last year in Australia when her head
covering got caught in the axle of a go-kart.
Five reflections on the hijab fracas at Rye
Playland:
• Once again we see the no-win situation
that often results when multiculturalism and
safety concerns collide: enforce the appropriate
dress code and risk accusations of bias, or
loosen the rules and risk accusations of negligence. Other recreational venues, including an
Australian water park and a Connecticut roller
rink, have faced this same dilemma.
has not made those people truly poor, at least
not yet. We do not help anyone when we
lump the unemployed with the unemployable under a single label of “poverty.” The
problems in both groups are real, but the
solutions are not entirely the same.
Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group a
fee-only financial planning firm headquartered
in Scarsdale, NY. The firm offers estate planning,
insurance consulting, trust planning, cross-border
planning, business valuation, family office and
business management, executive financial planning, and tax services. Its sister firm, Palisades
Hudson Asset Management, is an independent investment advisor with about $950
million under management. Branch offices are
in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale. Website:www.
palisadeshudson.com.
• Claims that the headgear
policy is selectively applied to
discriminate against Muslims are
undercut by an August 31 article
in the Journal News. Describing
how the park returned to normal
the next day, it notes that two
Jewish boys were asked to remove
their yarmulkes prior to boarding
a roller coaster. They did so
without causing a scene.
• Headscarves are not the
only Islamic attire that could prove dangerous
on fast-moving rides. Baggy garments, such as
those worn by Muslim women photographed
at Rye Playland, may require regulation as
well.
• Islamists have been known to orchestrate
incidents for the purpose of gaining sympathy
and concessions (e.g., the “flying imams”).
With the Muslims’ visit having been arranged
by a chapter of the Muslim American Society
(MAS), an Islamist group closely linked to the
Muslim Brotherhood, this possibility must be
considered. Especially curious: organizers had
been told about park policy in advance, yet
MAS fliers for the event made no mention of
headgear restrictions, thus ensuring plenty of
irate Muslims that day.
• Behold the noxious influence of groups
like CAIR on Muslim minds. “This all
happened because we’re Muslim,” charged
one of the attendees, demonstrating the
Islamist view that anybody who says no to a
Muslim must be a bigot. True to form, CAIR
responded to the brouhaha by lamenting the
“Islamophobia” that allegedly targets covered
women.
Amusement parks should set rules based
on what they believe to be necessary for the
protection of their patrons. Tell Rye Playland
(contact here) to keep putting safety first —
and ignore those Islamists who put agitation
first.
nearly a century of precedents by ruling that
corporate spending on elections could not be
limited, based on the court’s expansive reading
of the First Amendment. Precedents seem less
important where there is a political agenda.
See Bush v. Gore (2000).
Individuals have the right to contribute
as much as they wish to candidates under the
Supreme Court decision in Buckley v. Valeo
(1976). Today we will discuss other events in
that memorable year in our history, the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence.
POLITICAL EVENTS IN NEW
YORK STATE IN 1976
BTW, the Buckley in the Valeo case is
not the author William F. Buckley, who ran
for Mayor in 1965, but his brother James,
who was a United States Senator from New
York at the time of the High Court’s decision.
James had been elected on the Conservative
Party line in 1970, when the liberal vote was
divided between Democrat Richard Ottinger,
a Congressman, and Republican-Liberal
Charles Goodell, who had been appointed to
the Senate in 1968 by Governor Nelson A.
Rockefeller to fill the vacancy caused by the
assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Senator
Goodell had five sons, one of whom is Roger
Goodell, commissioner of the National
Football League.
After one six-year term, Senator
Buckley was defeated for re-election by
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the DemocraticLiberal candidate. After leaving the Senate,
Buckley was appointed by President Reagan
as Undersecretary of State for International
Security Affairs (where he succeeded
Matthew Nimetz) and Judge on the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit (where he was succeeded by John G.
Roberts, Jr.).
Moynihan had narrowly won the
Democratic primary in a race which featured
NEW YORK CIVIC
How Do We Get Better Leaders
By HENRY J. STERN
We are in the first days of fall
in the year 2011. The political
calendar has however raced ahead.
We are in the midst of the 2012
Presidential campaign, and the 2013 Mayoral
race is already under way.
This acceleration of political competition is due in part to campaign finance laws,
which require reporting of contributions far in
advance of the election. Candidates are judged
by the media and the public by the amount of
money they have raised. It is therefore in the
interest to collect as much as they can as soon
as they can.
A political action committee supporting
women candidates calls itself “Emily’s List”,
the acronym standing for ‘early money is like
yeast’, which means that it helps the cake
rise, hopefully so people will donate when
campaigns begin and encourage others to do
the same. Gender-based organizations may
encounter problems when two candidates
with the same reproductive system seek the
same office, but Emily’s List makes the selection process less burdensome by limiting its
support to pro-choice Democrats.
Under current law, there are political
action committees for both major parties and
for independents. Their ability to raise funds
and donate to candidates may ultimately be
determined by the Supreme Court of the
United States. At present, there is some uncertainty as to the effect of the Citizens United
decision of December 2010, which overturned
Page 26
NEW YORK CIVIC
How Do We Get Better Leaders
three candidates from the party’s left wing:
Congresswoman Bella Abzug, former City
Council President Paul O’Dwyer and former
U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Abe
Hirschfeld, a garage magnate later imprisoned
for the criminal solicitation of a hit man to kill
his former business partner, ran fifth. After
his release from prison, he ran again for the
Senate.
Under the New York State Election
Law, political parties are required to nominate candidates before Primary Day. The
minor parties, therefore, must make their
choices before the major parties. The Liberal
Party could not foresee who would win the
Democratic primary for the Senate. The
identity and philosophy of the Democratic
nominee would be a major factor in determining whom the Liberals would choose. It
was therefore necessary to select a candidate
who could withdraw after the primary. The
law provided only three paths to withdrawal:
death of the candidate, moving out of the
State of New York, or nomination for a judicial
office. It was therefore desirable to nominate a
lawyer, who would be able to depart from the
race honorably and safely if circumstances
warranted a substitution.
At that time, I was City Councilmember
at Large from Manhattan, and the only
elected Liberal in the state. I was asked to be
the Senate candidate and, of course, accepted.
When Pat Moynihan won the Senate primary,
the Liberal Party found a candidate it could
proudly support, and I was nominated by the
party for the New York State Supreme Court,
an office that had always been filled by major
party nominees. What would have happened
if Bella Abzug had defeated Moynihan is a
question that will never be answered. Alex
Rose, leader of the Liberal Party, died in
December 1976. However, even if Ms. Abzug
had received the Liberal nomination, she
might have lost to Senator Buckley. Moynihan
defeated Buckley by about 585,000 votes.
He was considered a moderate liberal and
appealed to a broader range of voters than Ms.
Abzug. Of course, no one can be certain with
regard to hypothetical contests.
The determining event in that primary
was the New York Times’ last-minute support
for Moynihan, a decision made by publisher
Arthur O. Sulzberger (not the present
WEIR ONLY HUMAN
Will Clinton Challenge Obama Next Year?
By BOB WEIR
Ever since Bill and Hillary
Clinton stepped onto the
national stage I was struck by
their Machiavellian ambition
for power. When he became embroiled in his
first sex scandal during the race for the White
House in 1992, one would have thought
his presidential career was over before it had
begun. Then, the country witnessed his wife
on national television saying that people were
telling lies about her husband. “I’m not some
woman standing by my man like Tammy
Wynette,” she said, trying to save the philanderer whom she viewed as her key to political
prominence. If she had told the voters what
she already knew about Bill’s lascivious liaisons, his ambitions would have ended in Little
Rock. But Hillary is not the type of woman
who cares about such mundane matters as
marital fidelity; she, like Bill, is a child of the
“free love” era that dominated the 1960s. The
pursuit of power is the aphrodisiac of choice
for this ruthless pair of hucksters. After Bill’s
2 terms in the White House, they moved to
New York, pulling a Bobby Kennedy type of
carpetbagger caper, so Hillary could run for
the US Senate.
The rest seemed easy. Hillary would be
a shoo-in for president in 2008. However,
as happens in some of the best laid plans,
suddenly, the devious duo got hit with
Hurricane Obama. The fact that this upstart
community organizer from Illinois, with a
mere 2 years in the Senate, could wrench the
nomination away from a woman who felt she
was the heir-apparent to the throne, seemed
to indicate that the country had had enough
of the Clintons. Begrudgingly, she accepted
the Secretary of State position, while plotting
the demise of the man who had robbed her of
her place in history as the first woman Chief
Executive, while securing his own place as the
first African-American to achieve that lofty
goal. Like something out of a Shakespearean
tragedy, the Brutus and Cassius conspiracy
began to chip away at the Caesar whom they
felt an overwhelming compulsion to eliminate. They hid their vitriolic resentment well
for almost 3 years, rejecting any notion that
Obama should be challenged for the nomination in 2012.
But now it seems the time is right to
strike a blow for Hillary. While she appears
to remain above it all, Bill is making noises
publisher, but his father) to over-rule the editorial board, which had supported Ms. Abzug.
That was an extremely important choice,
because Senator Moynihan, who had been
U.S. Representative to the United Nations and
had advised four Presidents (two Democrats
and two Republicans) was re-elected three
times and enjoyed an extraordinary reputation.
Moynihan retired in 2000 and was succeeded
by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who
served until she resigned in 2009 to become
Secretary of State.
Return with us now to the thrilling days
of yesteryear. The other New York Senate seat
was occupied successively by Jacob K. Javits,
four terms, 1957-81; Alfonse D’Amato, three
terms, 1981-99; and Charles E. Schumer,
1999 to the present. The seat Moynihan held
was held, as we have noted by, James Buckley,
Charles Goodell and Robert F. Kennedy,
who defeated Kenneth Keating, a Rochester
Republican congressman. FYI, years ago, New
York was considered a Republican state.
The governor in 1976 was the late Hugh
Carey (Rockefeller had become Vice President
under Ford). The state comptroller was Arthur
Levitt, a Democrat who served from 1955 to
1978 (six four-year terms), longer than anyone
else in the history of the office. The attorney
general was Louis J. Lefkowitz, a Republican,
who also had the longest tenure in that position, 1957 to 1979 (five and one half terms).
Lefkowitz succeeded Jacob Javits, also born
on the Lower East Side, who resigned as AG
when he was elected to the Senate in 1956.
Do public officials today measure up to
the standards of those of a generation or two
ago? I think probably not. It is altogether
possible that the bosses did a better job of
choosing candidates for high office than the
consultants and sloganeers who now manage
political campaigns for hire. After all, Alfred
E. Smith and the first Robert F. Wagner were
plucked by Tammany Hall from the mediocracy of the state legislature. And are any
boss-chosen governors comparable to Eliot
Spitzer and David Paterson?
We close with a memorable couplet by the
satirical poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744),
who wrote in “An Essay on Man” in 1734:
“For Forms of Government let fools
contest; Whate’er is best administer’d is best.”
Henry J. Stern writes as StarQuest. Direct
email to him at mailto:StarQuest@NYCivic.
org. Peruse Mr. Stern’s writing at New York
Civic.
like a supporter of a new candidate. Recently,
he took a shot at Obama’s jobs plan, calling it
“confusing” and saying that the president and
congress shouldn’t be raising taxes or cutting
spending. The Clintons know that Obama’s
hope for reelection is tied to the economy,
so, they put those malevolent minds together
and, not so subtly, undermined his desperation tactic. With a suspicious public watching
the scenario unfold, Bill is asked if he would
like his wife to be president. His response was
that he has always believed she is one of the
brightest people of her generation. Couple
that with the recent poll that said Hillary is
the most admired woman in America, and it’s
easy to imagine the scenario being planned.
There’s no doubt that the Clintons have
a lot of ears on the ground in the Democrat
Party, which is facing a scary election in 2012.
If the president’s poll numbers are this low (or
lower) by January, there will be many senators and congressmen worried about holding
onto their seats. If they believe that Obama
will hurt their chances, the pressure will be
on him to bow out for the good of the party.
In 1968, during the height of the Viet Nam
War, LBJ, whose poll numbers were in the
basement, told the nation that he would not
be running for reelection. Could history repeat
itself in 2012? One indication could be the
recent comments by 2 of the Clintons’ most
prominent strategists. James Carville and
Mark Penn said Obama should learn from the
centrist policies Clinton embraced in 1996. In
addition, during the BP oil spill, Carville was
stridently critical of the president’s actions
regarding the cleanup: “Man, you got to
get down here and take control of this! Put
somebody in charge of this thing and get this
moving! We’re about to die down here!”
Keep in mind that Hillary, as Secretary of
State, serves at the pleasure of Obama. Her
husband would not be attacking the central
theme of Obama’s reelection strategy without
her approval. Carville and Penn wouldn’t be
criticizing Obama unless they got the nod
from the former First Lady. While she keeps
her skirts clean, exuding an air of nobility,
she has others laying the groundwork for
her ascension. These are crafty politicians
who keep their eyes on the goal. Patience is
not their strong suit, so, waiting for 2016 was
never part of the plan.
Bob Weir is a veteran of 20 years with the New
York Police Dept. (NYPD), ten of which were
performed in plainclothes undercover assignments. Bob began a writing career about 12 years
ago and had his first book published in 1999. Bob
went on to write and publish a total of seven
novels, “Murder in Black and White,” “City to Die
For,” “Powers that Be,” “Ruthie’s Kids,” “Deadly to
Love,” “Short Stories of Life and Death,” and “Out
of Sight.” He also became a syndicated columnist
under the title “Weir Only Human.”
LEGAL NOTICES
TRE FIGLI LLC Articles of Org. filed NY
Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/30/2011. Office in
Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of
LLC upon whom process may be served.
SSNY shall mail copy of process to C/O
Patricia G. Micek, Esq. 2180 Boston Post
Rd. Larchmont, NY 10538. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
Z METRO POLLIS LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/24/2011. Office
in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of
SSNY shall mail copy of process to The
LLC P.O. Box 376 Great Neck, NY 11021.
Purpose: Any lawful activity..
PUBLIC ADJUSTER DAILY LLC Articles
of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY)
7/21/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY
design. Agent of LLC upon whom process
may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of
process C/O United States Corporation
Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Registered Agent: United States Corporation Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202
Brooklyn, NY 11228
JSM VENTURES LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/27/2011. Office
in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of
SSNY shall mail copy of process to Joanna
S. Moran 709 Warburton Ave. #8B Yonkers,
NY 10701. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Evofit LLC.
Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/05/2011.
Office location: Westchester County. SSNY
has been designated as agent upon whom
process against it may be served. The Post
Office address to which the SSNY shall
mail a copy of any process against the LLC
served upon him is Albert Maldonado, 280
Collins Ave Mount Vernon, NY 10552. Purpose of LLC: To engage in any lawful act
or activity.
Sitecompli LLC Authority filed with Secy. of
State of NY (SSNY) on 6/10/09. Office location: Westchester Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/12/08 SSNY designated as
agent of LLC upon whom process against
it may be served. SSNY shall mail process
to Ross Goldenberg 116 Storer Ave New
Rochelle, NY 10801. DE address of LLC:
1220 N. Market ST STE 808 Wilmington,
DE 19801. Arts. Of Org. filed with DE Secy.
of State, PO Box 898 Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
ALL THROUGH THE TOWN, LLC Articles
process to The LLC 10 Union Ave, Ste 5
Lynbrook, NY 11563. Purpose: Any lawful
activity.
229 Bedford-Banksville, LLC Articles of
Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/28/11.
Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design.
Agent of LLC upon whom process may be
served. SSNY shall mail copy of process
to The LLC 229 Bedford-Banksville Road
Bedford, NY 10506. Purpose: Any lawful
activity.
SUZANNE CALKINS, LLC Articles of Org.
filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 4/20/2011.
The LLC 18 Wildwood Circle Larchmont,
NY 10538. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of formation of 339A North High
Street LLC Articles of the organization
were filed with the SSNY on 9/13/11. Office location WESTCHESTER COUNTY
designated as agent of LLC whom process
against may be served. SSNY shall mail
process to LLC at POB 643 Bronx NEW
YORK 10466.
QUICK CASH PAWN USA LLC Articles
process The LLC 2712 E. Tremont Ave.
Bronx, NY 10461. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Page 27
CLASSIFIED ADS
REELWOMAN ASSETS, LLC Articles of Org.
The LLC 57 Worthington Rd. White Plains,
NY 10607. Purpose: Any lawful activity
DENNING PROPERTIES, LLC Articles of
Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/4/2011.
C/O Mr. Philip Denning 191 Beech St. Eastchester, NY 10709. Purpose: Any lawful
activity.
TLHM CONSULTING LLC Articles of Org.
The LLC 15 Plymouth Rd. Chappaqua, NY
10514. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Office Space AvailablePrime Location, Yorktown
Heights
1,000 Sq. Ft.: $1800. Contact Jaime: 914.632.1230
Deer Mngmnt seeks Lead Application Developer in Larchmont, NY
to support analysis, design, impl &
testing of new & existing bus systems & serve as lead programmer
for custom app dev related areas
incl software coding, database design, & report writing. Resumes to
Deer Management Co LLC., ATTN:
JAmbrosino, 1865 Palmer Avenue,
Larchmont, NY 10538, Ref. job code:
LAD-029. No calls/emails/faxes
EOE.
Prime Retail - Westchester
County
Best Location in Yorktown Heights
1100 Sq. Ft. Store $3100; 1266 Sq.
Ft. store $2800 and 450 Sq. Ft.
Store $1200.
Suitable for any type of business.
Contact Jaime: 914.632.1230
Page 28
www.westchesterguardian.com

Village of Bronxville - WestchesterGuardian.com

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