September 3, 2015 - WestchesterGuardian.com

Transcription

PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. X, No. XXXVI
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Thursday September 3, 2015 • $1.00
Publisher’s
Plea
Though Mr. Zherka Preferred To Go
To Trial, He Has Accepted A Plea At
The Urging Of Family And Friends,
To Avoid A Lengthy Trial With An
Uncertain Outcome.
Deal Offers The Fastest Route To
Bring Him Home.
Story, Page 3
Cover Art and Photo by Yonkers Artist
Sky Shatz, skygraphx.com.
Story Joseph P. Griffith. Page 7
The New Rochelle Republican Party
The Party That Dare Not Speak Its Name, By Steve Mayo, Story Page 3
WWW.WESTCHESTERGUARDIAN.COM
Page 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
GOVERNMENT
EDITORIAL
A Federal Judge Explains Why Innocent People Plead Guilty
Those who are unfamiliar with the
Criminal Justice system believe that
our constitutional right to a trial by jury
will vindicate the wrongfully accused.
Certainly,this is what the founding fathers
intended, “as a truth-seeking mechanism
and a means of achieving fairness, but also
as a shield against tyranny,”writes Federal
Judge Jed. S. Rakoff in Why Innocent
People Plead Guilty, (New York Review
of Books, Nov. 20, 2014) … “He may be
convicted only if an impartial jury of his
peers is unanimously of the view that
he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
and so states, publicly, in its verdict.”*
However, in practice, on average, 95%
of cases are settled by a plea agreement
with the defendant, rendering this right
to a jury trial an anachronism of a bygone
era. As Supreme Court Justice Kennedy
explains, “where there is no trial, there is
no right to a trial.”
The prosecution’s case is made at the
Grand Jury level, a Star Court, where
the defendant has no legal representation to question any statements made
or the evidence presented: evidence not
necessarily admissible at trial, giving the
prosecution all the leverage needed to
have an indictment returned. Should the
case be “iffy,” the government is at liberty
to conduct numerous Grand Juries until
they find a compliant one, who will
induct the defendant into the twilight
zone of the criminal justice system.
With an indictment returned, a
defendant with no means has access
to an over-worked public defender of
varying degrees of competence while a
person of average means will quickly be
bankrupted as he or she faces the staggering legal fees involved in mounting
a defense. And what does this defense
involve? In the months preceding trial,
numerous pre-court conferences are conducted before the trial judge to establish
the terrain of the trial: the government’s
theory of the case, what types of evidence
will be admissible and what exculpatory
evidence exists that must be turned over
to the defense in a timely fashion.
But, the government does not necessarily want to go to trial. After all, trials
are unpredictable and they could lose, in
which case, the defendant could easily
end up back on the street. Should the
defendant not be sufficiently cognizant
of the awesome power and majesty of
the United States criminal justice system,
--enough so to immediately volunteer
for a plea agreement, the government can
always over-charge the offense, heaping
on additional charges that carry long
prison terms. This has the dual effect of
ratcheting up the defense fees and terrifying the defendant into abrogating his
right to a trial, in return for a negotiated
reduced sentence.
“In 2013, while 8 percent of all
federal criminal charges were dismissed
(either because of a mistake in fact or law
or because the defendant had decided
to cooperate), more than 97 percent of
the remainder were resolved through
plea bargains, and fewer than 3 percent
went to trial,” writes Rakoff. “The plea
bargains largely determined the sentences imposed…While corresponding
statistics for the fifty states combined are
not available, it is a rare state where plea
bargains do not similarly account for the
resolution of at least 95 percent of the
felony cases that are not dismissed; and
again, the plea bargains usually determine
the sentences, sometimes as a matter of
law and otherwise as a matter of practice.
Furthermore, in both the state and federal
systems, the power to determine the
terms of the plea bargain is, as a practical
matter, lodged largely in the prosecutor,
with the defense counsel having little say
and the judge even less.”
“In addition to mandatory
minimums, Congress in 1984 introduced—with bipartisan support—a
regime of mandatory sentencing
guidelines designed to avoid “irrational” sentencing disparities. Since these
guidelines were not as draconian as the
mandatory minimum sentences, and
since they left judges with some limited
discretion, it was not perceived at first
how, perhaps even more than mandatory minimums, such a guidelines regime
(which was enacted in many states as
well) transferred power over sentencing away from judges and into the
hands of prosecutors…the guidelines,
like the mandatory minimums, provide
prosecutors with weapons to bludgeon
defendants into effectively coerced
plea bargains,” Rakoff observes. “In the
majority of criminal cases, a defense
lawyer only meets her client when or
shortly after the client is arrested, so that,
at the outset, she is at a considerable
informational disadvantage to the prosecutor. If, as is very often the case (despite
the constitutional prohibition of “excessive bail”), bail is set so high that the client
is detained, the defense lawyer has only
modest opportunities, within the limited
visiting hours and other arduous restrictions imposed by most jails, to interview
her client and find out his version of the
facts.”*
“The prosecutor, by contrast, will typically have a full police report, complete
with witness interviews and other
evidence, shortly followed by grand jury
testimony, forensic test reports, and follow-up investigations, he notes. “While
much of this may be one-sided and
inaccurate—the National Academy of
Science’s recently released report on the
unreliability of eyewitness identification
well illustrates the danger—it not only
gives the prosecutor a huge advantage
over the defense counsel but also makes
the prosecutor confident, maybe overconfident, of the strength of his case.”
“Against this background, the information-deprived defense lawyer, typically
within a few days after the arrest, meets
with the overconfident prosecutor, who
makes clear that, unless the case can be
promptly resolved by a plea bargain, he
intends to charge the defendant with
Continued on page 3
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Table of Contents
Editorial.....................................................2
Community...............................................3
Cover Story...............................................5
Local Business...........................................7
Election......................................................4
Local Business...........................................7
Travel.........................................................8
Creative Disruption...................................9
Eye on Theatre.........................................11
Local Lore...............................................12
Calendar..................................................14
Legal Ads................................................14
Cultural Perspectives...............................15
Mary at the Movies.................................16
Sam Zherka, Publisher
Mary Keon, Acting Editor /Advertising
Publication is every Thursday
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New Rochelle, NY 10801
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Page 3
the defendant’s reputation, personal and
business relationships while the cost of
litigation results in financial losses that
may take years to recover from, if indeed
recovery is possible at all.
“The National Registry of
Exonerations (a joint project of Michigan
Law School and Northwestern Law
School) records that of 1,428 legally
acknowledged exonerations that have
occurred since 1989 involving the full
range of felony charges, 151 (or, again,
about 10 percent) involved false guilty
pleas,” reports Rakoff .
What is the remedy? Rakoff
suggests: “eliminating mandatory
minimums, eliminating sentencing
guidelines, dramatically reducing the
severity of our sentencing regimes
altogether and involving judges in the
plea bargaining process.”
Rakoff proposes that an impartial
Magistrate be provided with evidence
under seal in recorded meetings with
both parties separately. In some cases
the Magistrate might be empowered
to interview witnesses, examine other
evidence under seal and perhaps even
interview the defendant, without violating his Fifth Amendment Right to avoid
self-incrimination. During this time, the
prosecutor would be prohibited from
offering a plea bargain. The Magistrate
would be empowered to dismiss a case for
lack of evidence or recommend the case
proceed to trial with the option of a plea
bargain. Rakoff believes this would offer
innocent defendants more protection
though he recognizes it would not totally
eliminate false guilty pleas in return for
a reduced sentence and proposes a pilot
project to see if this is a workable plan.
The current system leaves the government with unchecked power as
apparent in the wave of Prosecutorial
Misconduct cases across the country:
no-one knows what goes on behind the
closed doors of the United States Justice
Department and clearly little oversight is
exercised. We need to build new protections into the system if we are to preserve
the rights our founding fathers envisioned for us.
a la Yonkers and Mount Vernon, “don’t
need the schools” and send their kids to
say, Iona Prep and Solomon Schecter.
Has the electorate become resigned
to this? Have the professional Democratic
majority “regulars” in and around city hall
succeeded in neutralizing the self-corrective mechanism of public controversy and
citizen activism? Are Democratic voters
too embarrassed over the City Council’s
budgetary priorities to invite unwanted
publicity with public comment?
Or will the currently unorganized
and demobilized citizenry of independence and principle, for once refuse to be
disarmed, fooled, and cowed? Will they
finally reject the smugness of self-satisfied
bureaucrats presiding over faint-hearted
majorities? Will they refuse to be “taken
for granted” by neighborhood elites and
majority faction hirelings? One of the
reasons for the absence of meaningful
change is the absence of any meaningful debate. Of course, two parties ready,
willing and able to engage to effect
change must first exist in order for a
EDITORIAL
A Federal Judge Explains Why Innocent People Plead Guilty
Continued from page 2
the most severe offenses he can prove.
Indeed, until late last year, federal prosecutors were under orders from a series
of attorney generals to charge the defendant with the most serious charges that
could be proved—unless, of course, the
defendant was willing to enter into a plea
bargain. If, however, the defendant wants
to plead guilty, the prosecutor will offer
him a considerably reduced charge—but
only if the plea is agreed to promptly
(thus saving the prosecutor valuable
resources). Otherwise, he will charge the
maximum, and, while he will not close
the door to any later plea bargain, it will
be to a higher-level offense than the one
offered at the outset of the case.”
In truth, the United States Criminal
Justice System operates more like a casino
where defendants can roll the dice and
go to trial or take the safer bet and cop a
plea but at the end of the day, 95% of the
time,THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS.
At trial, the defense needs to impress 12
people that he or she is innocent beyond a
reasonable doubt and while there is good
reason to believe the innocent person will
be vindicated, there are enormous pressures on an innocent person to opt for the
plea agreement. A plea agreement yields
a reduced sentence to avoid a longer one
should the defendant not prevail at trial
for there is no way to know how the
jurors will evaluate the evidence with
which they are presented. And even if the
defendant is vindicated, prosecution has
invariably and often irreparably damaged
*Jed S. Rakoff, Why Innocent People
Plead Guilty, New York Review of Books,
November 20, 2014. Jed Saul Rakoff
is a United States District Judge for the
Southern District of New York. We urge our
readers to read the complete text at: http://
www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/
nov/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/
COMMUNITY
The Party That Dare Not Speak Its Name…
By Steve Mayo
A breeze blows in
from Long Island Sound,
scattering the squabble
of seagulls that has just
colonized the swath of
pavement providing fishing and sunbathing roosts along Hudson Park’s
southeast boundary. The popular park,
home of Summer Sounds musical events
and holiday celebrations offers New
Rochelle’s most picturesque vista.
But this reverie is breached by the
surrounding decayed public amenities
and unkempt flora. Trees and ground
cover need both trimming and renewal.
Fencing around the bedraggled pavilion
is haphazard: detached from couplings,
rusted and hostile to the touch. Handrails
framing parking and harbor areas are a
faded, revolting baby blue where they are
not oxidized in red. This perhaps explains
the paucity of kids and adults reveling in
the persistent surf, sunlight and breeze.
Evidence of New Rochelle’s travails
is displayed for all: the dilapidation,
another example of public accommodations that have suffered from managerial
neglect and fiscal strangulation. Add to
this, dismay over parks, sidewalks and
curbs with complaints of washboard
intersections and pot-holed streets. It
is perplexing that so few residents have
publically registered their complaints and
concerns.
Real property tax increases, diminished police, fire, parks and recreation
coupled with inadequate DPW staffing
make New Rochelle, a tough sell these
days, as homeowners and local brokers
can attest. In the past, many prospective
homebuyers flocked here, enamored of
New Rochelle’s coastal charm, small city/
suburban efficiency, diversity and rich
cosmopolitanism. Today, the current perception is one of a dense, depersonalized
and increasingly bureaucratic city. Some
are concerned about the proposed scale of
downtown construction and the impact
on school size, to say nothing of incessant and unrelenting increases in school
and city taxes; double in digit if you count
taxes masquerading as phony “fees,” and
diminutions of civil service details as well
as service reductions in leaf collection.
Plain talking agents will tell you that
people resembling the likes of you twenty
years ago, fleeing the mean streets of the
Bronx or the expense of Manhattan’s
Upper East Side, now are being shepherded to Rye Brook, Larchmont, the
Hudson River towns and Yorktown along
with the “wilds” of Fairfield, Putnam and
Rockland counties. Most who now seek
the “relative value”or even the “bargain”of
New Rochelle, are the chosen ones who,
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COMMUNITY
debate to take place.
In New Rochelle, the Democrats see
no need to “engage” since they control all
the institutions and processes of power:
appointive offices, planning and zoning
boards, assorted community/historical/
cultural panels, the separate New Rochelle
City School District Board of Education,
and assorted fund raising committees,
environmental and public health nonprofits. They do not have to do anything
they do not want to do; in schoolyard
parlance: “no one is going to make them.”
The Democratic Party’s domination of
the political and social life of the City of
New Rochelle is comprehensive and
absolute.
An occasional conservative/libertarian has taken the Democrats to task for
the city’s continued decline by objective
measures compared to other localities of
comparable size, ethnic and economic
composition; generally eliciting little
interest among the public at large or
local media outlets. Statistical analysis to
determine the efficacy of government
expenditures is costly and time consuming.
And who in the mainstream media cares
to see conservatism succeed in any case?
Under-employed, underprivileged
and newly arrived residents rely upon
municipal spending and local programs
supported through tax revenue. The
Republican opposition seems unsuited to
the task of holding bureaucracy to account
as to how these funds are spent.
Like many municipalities in the state,
New Rochelle has seen its Republican
inclinations evaporate in a scant 30 years.
Failing cities and suburbs continue to elect
Democratic political leadership and the
populations electing these are not strictly
the underprivileged and “disenfranchised”
(readers of New York’s newspaper of
record will understand these terms). Many
are supremely wealthy; privileged like
Rajas: professional gentry of diverse ethnic
and religious stock. Some, Republican
in registration, or sons and daughters of
the GOP are converts by marriage or
PTA membership to the ranks of the
Democratic way of seeing things; others
are simply accustomed to following their
“spouse” and vote for Democrats or they
perhaps are discomfited by anyone to the
right of the late free-spending Republican
Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
With all but one New Rochelle City
incumbents re-nominated for public office,
the Democrats responsible are excused for
any incompetence and neglect, and so far,
inexplicably get a free “pass”for their role in
the misadventure. But this is an old story:
never varying and never-ending.
New Rochelle’s economic decline
continues amidst a consistently growing
population of non-stake holding, i.e.,
non-property tax paying, occupants of
state-subsidized rental apartments, questionable sublets and illegal basement
dwellings as well as a disproportionate
number of low-skilled, and incidentally
illegal economic migrants from Central
and South America. Consider also, a
continuing decline in career unionmembership that availed employment in
manufacturing, assembly, warehousing
and distribution, as well as other traditionally artisanal, skilled and semi-skilled jobs.
Consider further, a resident population
of some 80,000, making New Rochelle
the second largest city in the county of
Westchester, and the seventh largest in
the state of New York; but whose annual
proceeds in sales tax revenue trails that
of White Plains by 50%, a city with an
Fair Educational Standards Needed
By Peggy Godfrey
“Education is the
great divide in this country,”
presidential candidate Dr.
Ben Carson observed on a
recent television appearance and this statement should be on the minds of everyone
who wants to see our country thrive.
Coming from someone who overcame a
disadvantaged background to become the
chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns
Hopkins, his insight is especially acute and
we would do well to reflect on his words.
Dr. Carson’s message resonates with prospective voters who have told him he
“made sense” and that they would support
him.
Education has been traditionally a
state and local function, so federal assistance should supplement local efforts.
But does it? Common Core, initiated at
the federal level has resulted in mandates,
especially when these federal monies are
accepted to supplement funding for local
primary and secondary schools.
As a result, very different new
standards were forced upon students.
Questions about whether or not these
common core standards had been coordinated with children’s learning and growth
patterns resulted in protests of all types.
Furthermore, initiating new standards
for children who have not been taught
in previous years from a curriculum that
incorporated the new common core
standards inevitably revealed gaps in their
learning. So, not only were these standards
more difficult for children to attain, the
material not covered in earlier grades had
to be included along with tougher upper
grade standards.
Were the tests were fair? The opt-out
movement from standardized tests
became extremely widespread in New
York State and this year, about 20% of
eligible New York State students in grades
3-8 did not take these mathematics and
language arts exams. Teachers who were
to have a certain percent of their teaching
evaluation based on common core tests
and could have even be fired if these scores
were not high enough, were spared this
year.
estimated 25% fewer residents.
The better question; how is it that in
places other than Weimar-On-the-Sound,
legitimate Republican Conservatives,non“RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and
Conservative Democrats win public office
with notable regularity? (Per last year’s
mid-term national elections, Republicans
continue to dominate the political landscape of most state and county polities and
a surprising portion of local governments;
regardless of how many “End of Days”for-Republicans scenarios are proffered by
paid CNN pollsters and underemployed
professors of law, political science, sociology and demographics!) And, somehow,
anti-business, crony capitalist-craving
politicians like New York’s lefty Democrat
knuckleheads are occasionally voted out or
driven from office to only to be replaced
with reform- minded Democrats and
even Republicans.
It is beyond the province of this
provincial, columnist by the sea, to academically catalog the universal dynamics
that can limit political change and policy
course corrections, but that also make
change, even seismic change, possible.
Yet in light of the foregoing, it is instructive to consider how a comparatively
high-income, culturally and intellectually
enriched burg like this growing city has
reached a state of such political dystrophy and resistance to any sort of reform;
reforms that are pro-business and sensitive
to free-markets; procedurally progressive
and socially liberal at the same time.
Readers should marvel that anything
gets done in this city at all, but the real
conundrum is the that the only opportunity for reversing New Rochelle’s decades
of reverses lies in reforming the wholly
unsuccessful minority political organization of Republicans. For what majority
party would facilitate internal change if
its way of doing business has brought it
nothing but past success?
Next Week: we will consider the present and
future prospects for New Rochelle’s hapless
Republicans.They of “The party that dare not
speak its name,” so that it may one day take
part in, if not take the lead in, reinventing
New Rochelle itself.
Stephen I. Mayo is an attorney, owner of
Mayo Linoleum Works, LLC, host of “The
Steve Mayo Show” with Cornelia Mrose on
WVOX radio, 1460 AM - Mondays from 6
to 7 PM (www.thestevemayoshow.com) and
not embarrassed to be known as a Republican.
“Education is the great divide in this country.”
The Westchester Putnam School
Boards Association, always concerned
about property values (which can be partially linked to school quality), reportedly
told the state education department that
the opt-out rate in mostly middle class
suburban neighbors was high, while in
New York City the op-out rate was only
2%. The question is how do we close this
gap in compliance?
Theoretically, state funding for
Common Core can be withheld if the
rate of students taking the test falls below
95%. However, a spokesman for the State
Education Department has recently confirmed that no funding would be withheld
this year. As a result, underperforming
schools were spared embarrassment for
low scores and teacher’s jobs were also not
placed in jeopardy, for the moment.
Still, there is some good news
about local education. Over two dozen
schools in the Hudson Valley and Long
Island ranked in the top 100 Niche.com
Survey of New York schools. While New
Rochelle schools ranked 113 in New
– Presidential Candidate Dr. Ben Carson
Dr. Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate
and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery
at the Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions, a position he has held since
1984. Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins
Medicine.
York State on their list, they were cited
for a high school graduation rate of 83%
(compared to 82.2% for Westchester) and
1.6% for drop-outs, (compared to 1.9% for
Westchester), and for having a studentteacher of 15 to 1. But where did New
Rochelle schools shine? New Rochelle
High School was listed as number 100
in their opinion on the best high school
teachers according to Niche.
Parents are eager to know of factors
can influence their child’s scores on
Common Core tests. They also wonder if
teachers will be teaching to this test, at the
expense of other subject matter that would
typically be covered previously. More
importantly, has adequate attention been
given to students who have special needs,
for example, those for whom English
is a second language and students with
learning disabilities? When many students
with learning problems are placed in a
single classroom, the rating of a teacher on
student test scores becomes highly controversial and a grossly unfair evaluation of
their performance.
There are other ways to evaluate
schools. On August 22, 2015, Patch.
com listed a number of Westchester high
schools making Newsweek’s list of the
country’s top 500 high schools. They were:
Bronxville (#29); Briarcliff High School
Continued on page 5
Page 5
fact Mr. Zherka learned when they were
deployed to the Middle East, eviscerating
the rent roll. This property is the subject
of the Qui Tam case involving bankers at
Sovereign Bank, underwriters for Fannie
Mae. Though this property went into
foreclosure, it was through no actions of
Mr. Zherka and this is stipulated in the
plea agreement.
The negotiated plea capped 11
months of intense litigation in pre-trial
conferences. Mr. Zherka clearly accepts
responsibility for the acts to which he
has pleaded guilty. However, those acts,
false statements on a loan application to
Sovereign Bank and tax filing inaccuracies, rarely, if ever, result in the treatment
and penalties imposed and sought
by the government and court in this
case. Though Mr. Zherka preferred to
go to trial, the reality is that he would run
the risk, if convicted of even one charge,
of a ten-year minimum jail term, should
the jury not understand the intricacies of
commercial real estate, real estate flips,
finance and family trusts; a risk that as a
husband and as a parent, he did not feel
free to take.
Mr. Zherka’s has spoken out against
powerful politicians through the years
and his many enemies are no doubt
delighted with the outcome. The penalties against our publisher are harsh:
designed to hobble him financially and to
serve as a cautionary tale for others who
choose to speak out, forcing him to live
his own personal version of Jean Valjean
in Les Miserables. Even if the government succeeded in winning a conviction
against him, persons convicted of the
crimes he was accused of, do not do time
at level 6 prisons such as the Manhattan
Correctional Center where Mr. Zherka
has spent the past 11 months; they are
placed in much less restrictive facilities.
At sentencing Judge Seibel, who
smiled brightly through the entire proceeding, stated several times that she is
not bound by the agreement proffered
by the United States Attorneys, nor by
their estimated sentence calculation.
She declined to give Mr. Zherka a brief
parole, with a security bracelet requirement, to settle his business affairs in order
to comply with the requirements of the
U. S. Attorneys. He was remanded back
into the custody of Federal Marshalls
and returned to Manhattan Correctional
where he will remain until his sentencing
hearing scheduled for Dec. 22, 2015.
COVER STORY
Mr. Zherka’s Plea
By Mary Keon
On Thursday, August 27th, our
publisher, Sam Zherka returned to court,
appearing before Judge Cathy Seibel.
Reading from a prepared statement, he
pled guilty to one count of a Superceding
Information that was filed against him
which charged Conspiracy, in violation
of Title 18, United States Code, Section
371, carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years, a maximum term of
supervised release of 3 years, a maximum
fine of the greatest of $250,000 or twice
the gross pecuniary gain derived from the
offense, and a $100 mandatory special
assessment. The charges referenced
false statements on a loan application to
Sovereign Bank; making and subscribing
to false tax returns; and assisting another
to file false tax returns. Mr. Zherka
admitted the conduct he pleaded guilty
to in the superseding information and
admitted his liability for that particular
conduct.
The agreement does not bar the Tax
Division of the Justice Dept. from using
this conduct as a predicate act or as the
basis for a sentencing enhancement in a
subsequent prosecution including, but
not limited to, a prosecution pursuant to
18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 et seq.
The United States Attorneys moved
to dismiss any open Count(s) against
him. The agreement does not provide
any protection against prosecution except
as set forth above and he is prohibited
from filing as a prevailing party under
the Hyde Amendment, preventing him
from suing for prosecutorial misconduct.
Mr. Zherka will pay a monetary fine
of $5,232,922.63 as forfeiture for Count
One along with restitution in the amount
of several outstanding judgments along
with accrued interest on a property he
formerly owned in Tennessee.
Under the agreement proffered by
the U. S. Attorneys, he is also required
to pay restitution to Robert S. Ryan for
a monetary judgment in a civil case and
interest accrued on this with the caveat
that if Mr. Zherka is successful in vacating
the Zherka v. Ryan judgment with newly
discovered evidence of perjury, he may
appeal to have this judgment reduced or
rescinded. Mr. Zherka is also required to
prepare revised personal and business tax
returns for the years 2004-2014 within
30 days, pay any additional taxes, satisfy
any additional Federal, New York and
Massachusetts taxes, tax warrants, fraud
penalties and interest accrued as a condition of probation.
The plea commands Mr. Zherka
to dismiss with prejudice, two lawsuits
against all defendants therein: United
States of America, ex re, Sam Zherka,
appearing Qui Tam v Sovereign Bank,
Santander Holdings, U.S.A., Banco
Santander, S.A., 12 Civ. 4464 (EDNY)
and Selim ‘Sam’ Zherka v “Agent” Ryan
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
“Agent” Ashcroft of Internal Revenue
Service, Lois Lerner, sued in her individual capacity, 13 Civ. 3940. (SDNY).
In 2007 Mr. Zherka purchased
a package of multifamily apartment
buildings in Tennessee.The seller misrepresented the tenancy to him, describing
10% of the tenants as military employees.
On the day of the closing, the property
incurred millions of dollars in damage
from a hailstorm and several months
later it turned out that far more than 10%
of his tenants were military employees, a
COMMUNITY
Fair Educational Standards Needed
(#31); Blindbrook High School (#33);
Rye High School (#96); Pleasantville
High School (#122); Eastchester Senior
High School (#132); Rye Neck Senior
High School (#140); Ardsley Senior High
School (#146); Hastings High School
(#162); Irvington High School (#177);
Pelham Memorial High School (#235);
and Dobbs Ferry High School (#260).
The Study and the methodology can be reviewed at: http://
www.newsweek.com/high-schools/
americas-top-high-schools-2015.
However, as the school year commences, Westchester residents should be
asking educators why New Jersey had
six of the top ten high schools and what
needs to change in the way our students
are educated so our high schools can take
their place at the top of the list.
Some residents may remember that
in 2003, New Rochelle High School
was ranked 351. But in 2009 then
Superintendent Dr. Richard Organisciak
asked the New Rochelle Board of
Education not to answer the Newsweek
survey and the School Board complied by
voting against participation in the survey.
Organisciak did feel the New Rochelle
schools spend less per pupil than other
districts. In fairness, there is also some criticism that this survey ranks schools with
“less diverse” student populations.
Educators, teacher unions and
parents all have the same goal: to educate
students in preparation for their future
in this country. Politicizing curricula and
standards only serves to undermine these
efforts. Ranking teachers on a Common
Core curriculum politicizes both the
curriculum and the standards. Ranking
teachers on a Common Core curriculum
that was inadequate, when implemented,
creates unfair and stressful conditions for
both teachers and students. Educational
goals should be based on the learning
abilities and disabilities of children and
adjusted to their needs.
The key to improving future educational programs is the need for teachers to
have ample preparation for teachers, and
age –appropriate curricula that challenges
students to grow academically.
91st Annual
Yorktown Grange Fair
September 10 — September 13
Grange Fairgrounds • 99 Moseman Road, Yorktown Heights
Rides ~ Exhibits ~ Livestock ~ Contests ~ Live Music
Produce ~ Flowers ~ Art ~ Photography~ Baking ~ Legos ~ Needlework
Famil
y
Fun f
or
All!
Special Performance Saturday, 8 P.M.
Antique Tractor Parade
Saturday at Noon
For
the
Kids!
Midway Rides, Games & Food
Music With
Overhill Shenanigans
Saturday at 11:45 A.M.
Tony’s World of Magic & Illusions
www.yorktowngrangefair.org
Page 6
COMMUNITY
Letter to the Editor
Primary Candidate Shari Rackman Deserves Support
I have recently learned that Shari Rackman, a council person in New
Rochelle, came under severe criticism for voting against a planned project for
Echo Bay.
The residents who live in the area, mostly home owners, are against this
project. Shari Rackman listened to these complaints and agreed with them.
Shari Rackman did what a city council person should do and that is put the
taxpayer first. The city council should use her as a role model.
As a former soldier I salute her: Thanks Shari.
Sincerely,
George Imburgia
New Rochelle,
The United Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Association
of New Rochelle Hosts 9/11 Commemorative Service
Friday Evening, September 11
Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015
New Rochelle, NY
A
9/11
Commemorative
Service & Candlelight Vigil, hosted
by The United Veterans Memorial &
Patriotic Association of New
Rochelle, will take place on Friday,
September 11, 2015 @ 8:00 PM, at
the American Legion Post 8 Hall, 112
North Ave., New Rochelle -- (doors
to open at 7:30 PM).
Come join us as WE
REMEMBER our fallen brothers
and sisters who perished on or
because of September 11, 2001. It
will be an evening of healing through
an Interfaith Prayer Service, patriotic
songs, and remarks from those who
lost loved ones because of 9/11. Those
heroes who were taken or made that
day shall Never Be Forgotten! It should also be remembered
YIDA Completes Action on Incentives for Major Projects
August 18th Yonkers, NY The
Yonkers
Industrial
Development Agency today gave
final approval to incentives for
FedEx to build a new distribution
center on Tuckahoe Road, as well as
final approval to assist the Simone
Development Group in redeveloping
the former Boyce Thompson property
in northern Yonkers as a medical and
retail center.
“Development is happening not
just downtown, but throughout the
City,” noted Mayor Mike Spano who
chairs the YIDA, adding, “These two
projects alone represent $150 million
in new investment coming to Yonkers.
That’s a tremendous vote of confidence in our City by the business
community.”
The Yonkers FedEx plan is part of
a $2.9 billion nationwide rebuild of the
company’s hubs and pickup/delivery
locations. The 123,000 square foot
facility on the site of a former motel
on Tuckahoe Road will handle small
packages and replace a smaller rented
facility in the Bronx. When finished
it will provide 15 full time jobs and 43
part time jobs.
The 85,000 square foot Boyce
Thompson project, underway since
June, got another boost in early
August when St. John’s Riverside
Hospital agreed to lease 15,000 square
feet of the renovated property for
medical offices. The $35 million plan
by the Simone Group will transform
the empty agricultural research center
into bustling medical offices, retail, and
restaurants.
The YIDA had previously taken
initial steps to provide exemption from
sales taxes on materials used in their
construction, as well and mortgage
tax relief and temporary property tax
abatements. Today’s action formalizes
those steps.
“These are two more examples of
Yonkers bringing new jobs here and
expanding our tax base for the future,
“said YIDA President Ken Jenkins,
adding, “Our message to business is
simple: You create jobs and investment, and we will provide incentives to
reduce the cost of doing business here.”
Meanwhile two other projects
approved by the YIDA last year
continue to move forward, winning
extensions to the original completion
dates. The YIDA granted an eight
month extension to the Plant Manor
LLC is it undertakes the renovation
of the former Alder Manor on North
that New Rochelle, and in particular the New Rochelle Naval Armory
Building, were of significant importance to 9/11 due to their location
and service to Ground Zero during
the days that followed the attack on
America.
This Commemorative Service is
open to the public and there is additional free parking in the Mormon
Church lot across the street.
Broadway. One of the most historic
buildings in Yonkers and the former
site of Elizabeth Seton College, it
was built in 1912 by William Boyce
Thompson as his home. It is being
renovated as a location for functions
and events, and continues to serve
as a venue for film and television
production.
The YIDA also granted an eight
month extension for the developers of
the Hampton Inn hotel on Tuckahoe
Road. The hotel is under construction
and is expected to open in the New
Year.
In both instances the YIDA
extended the exemption on sales tax
for materials used in construction until
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Page 7
LOCAL BUSINESS
T-shirts Let You Wear Your Heart On Your Chest
By JOSEPH P. GRIFFITH
The T-shirt, that
staple of fashion both
low and occasionally
high, has long been used
to proclaim the wearer’s
philosophy, political or otherwise.
Probably no one can pinpoint its exact
beginnings as political statement,
though that certainly had some origins
in the Che Guevara T-shirt, which
has been around since the 1960s.
Since then, what a person wears on
his or her chest has become a virtual
billboard for that person’s beliefs; left,
right or center, political or not.
One of the most dramatic
examples of the art is presented by
skygraphx, a company owned by Sky
Shatz of Yonkers. The 27-year-old
graphic artist designs shirts with a
variety of messages, some political,
some funny, some lewd, all striking.
They convey some of the ideas he
believes in and observations he has
made about politics and society.
One of the more interesting
designs is a black shirt with a close-up
of the Statue
of Liberty’s torch, with a plume
of smoke reading “Freedom” trailing
off into the sky. It is not hard to
imagine liberals, conservatives and
people on any other side of the political spectrum agreeing with the idea of
our freedom going up in smoke. Lady
Liberty figures prominently in another,
more mordant design, as a skeletal figure
lying in a coffin.
Shatz presents a striking appearance himself, with piercings and a curly
mohawk. Asked to describe his own
political philosophy, he says he leans
toward the liberal. “But I’m more independent,” he says. “Most politicians are
liars. I don’t really delve into one party
or the other. That’s crazy, how people
can be so narrow-minded to devote
themselves to one party or the other.”
Shatz does his designing in a studio
in the artist complex in the former
Alexander Carpet Co. building on
Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers. (The
shirts are printed in Long Island.) A
graduate of the School of Visual Arts
in Manhattan, he started the company
as a hobby in 2007 while working fulltime as a graphic designer. When it
took off, he decided to go out on his
own. For a while, he had a store in the
Palisades Center mall in West Nyack,
but now sells his shirts online and at
tattoo conventions and music festivals
around the Northeast.
“Working at the music festivals gives me a chance to present my
designs to people who might never see
them otherwise,” he says. His customers range from “a 14-year-old kid in
high school up to somebody 50 or 60
years old. I aim to create a reaction in
the viewer’s mind.”
Upcoming shows in the metropolitan area where Skygraphx is
scheduled to exhibit include the New
York Comic Con at the Javits Center
in Manhattan, Oct. 8-11; the
Westchester Tattoo Convention
at the County Center in White
Plains, Oct. 16-18; and the
Walker Stalker Con at the
Meadowlands Exposition
Center in Secaucus, N.J.,
Dec. 4-6.
Word of mouth is also
a big marketing method.
“You see somebody wearing
one of my shirts and they go,
‘Hey, where did you get that
from?’” he says. “I’ve never
done shows outside of the
U.S., but I’ve had customers from all over the world,
Tokyo or Poland. I have
no idea how they found
out about me but it’s pretty
cool. As much as you can
pay for advertising, word of
mouth is the best.”
He has done between
20 and 30 designs over
the years, retiring old ones
as new ones come to mind.
Skeletons, skulls and death
are recurring themes, the idea
being that society is slowly killing Sky Shatz of Yonkers, owner of the Skygraphx
T-shirt company.
itself through its beliefs, practices,
greed and commerciality. Some of
called to mind the Coexist nonprofit
the designs cannot be reproduced in
organization’s logo. Shatz’s design, a
a family or general-interest publicacommentary on what it means to be
tion, bearing messages that might be
“American,” spelled out that word in
described euphemistically as “outlaw.”
symbols such as the McDonald’s logo
One shirt, since discontinued,
for the M, a rifle for the I and the
Chinese symbol for debt for the N.
“For most people, judging from
the reaction in the places where I
promote the shirts, they usually
get a good response,” he says.
“Some of my artwork gets a
little flak” of the “America,
love it or leave it” variety.
One such design depicts
the stripes of the American
flag as prison bars being
held by a pair of hands.
“My point is that if you
don’t know your rights in
this country, you’ll lose
them. It’s in the eye of
the beholder, how they
see it.”
Shatz says he doesn’t
have any great ultimate
goal other than to be
happy with what he’s
doing, “which I am. It’s
not like I wake up and
have to go to a job.”
WHERE TO SEE
SKYGRAPHX’S
T-SHIRTS
Skygraphx,
graphx.com
com/
New York Comic Con,
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.
Westchester Tattoo Convention,
http://www.westchestertattoocon.com/
Walker Stalker Con, http://walkerstalkercon.com/newyorknewjersey/
Diana O’Neill
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I will journey with you during challenging times such as
grieving the loss of a loved one or recovering from a negative relationship.
Counseling • Energy Healing • Hypnotism • Spiritual & Psychic Healing
By Appointment, Only.
Free consultation given on first visit.
914.630.1928
Holistic Health Services • 212 North Ave. Suite 204 A, New Rochelle, NY 10801
http://sky-
• 914.630.1928
Page 8
TRAVEL
You’ll Certainly Get Your Fill In Philadelphia
By JOSEPH P. GRIFFITH
Philadelphia
is
famous for many things –
the American Revolution,
Independence
Hall,
cheesesteaks,
Rocky
Balboa – but the city is so much more
than the clichés. It has experienced a
renaissance in recent years that makes it
a worthy rival of other major American
cities on many fronts, including tourism
and cuisine.
Where does one begin to describe
and introduce travelers to the City of
Brotherly Love? The best place is usually
the beginning; in this case, that would be
its history, which is so much a part of the
history of America.
The inscription on the Liberty Bell
comes from Leviticus 25:10 in the
Old Testament: Proclaim Liberty
Throughout All the Land Unto All the
Inhabitants Thereof.
Independence National Historical
Park, at Chestnut Street between Fifth
and Sixth streets, is the geographical
and historical center of Philadelphia,
and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution were debated and
signed there, in Independence Hall;
the Liberty Bell proclaimed liberty
throughout all the land. The Assembly
Room, Courtroom of the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court, Long Gallery and
various chambers give colorful insight
into how America was born. Admission
is by tour only. Timed entry tickets
are free and required from March to
December, but not in January and
February.
The surrounding streets contain a
wealth of history. The 32 buildings of
Elfreth’s Alley, built between 1720 and
1830, make the picturesque cobblestone
street the oldest continuously inhabited
road in America. Whether or not Betsy
Ross actually created the American
flag, you can learn about it at her house
at 239 Arch St. Franklin Square, one
of the city’s five original squares, has
an attractive fountain, carousel, miniature golf course and holiday light
show. You can also visit Benjamin
Franklin’s grave and drink colonial ale
on a Halloween Ghosts & Toasts tour.
The Independence Seaport Museum
contains art, artifacts and archival
materials documenting the region’s
maritime history. Rittenhouse Square
is well-known for outdoor restaurants,
boutiques, galleries and entertainment.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
became world-famous for Sylvester
Stallone’s run up its steps in “Rocky,”
and the statue he later presented to the
museum. Arts institutions acknowledge that such publicity always helps,
but of course there is a serious side. The
museum is smaller in scale than New
York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Sleek, modern buildings dominate Philadelphia’s skyline. Until 1987, a gentlemen’s
agreement limited building construction to the height of City Hall. Today, lights
emanate from dozens of buildings, making the nation’s fifth largest city sparkle. Credit:
Photo by M. Edlow for Visit Philadelphia™
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Independence Hall where the
Declaration of Independence was signed
in 1776. The United States Constitution
was created and signed here eleven years
later. The building was previously the
Pennsylvania State House, and housed
all three branches of Pennsylvania’s
colonial government. Photo & notes
courtesy of the National Parks Service
Henri Rousseau, French, 1844–1910.
Woman Walking in an Exotic Forest
(Femme se promenant dans un forêt
exotique), 1905. Oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x
31 3/4 in. (100 x 80.6 cm). BF388. Photo:
© 2012 The Barnes Foundation
but it contains numerous works that
rival the quality, if not the quantity. A
quiet stroll through its galleries is to
appreciate the history and beauty of not
only art, but also civilization. Current
and upcoming exhibitions will showcase
Impressionism, Scandinavian design,
Pop Art, Audubon, Warhol, Rubens,
Michelangelo and Titian. The institution also includes the Rodin Museum,
which contains the largest collection of
sculptor Auguste Rodin’s works outside
Paris.
The Barnes Foundation holds a fine
collection of Post-Impressionist and
early Modern paintings, Old Masters,
African sculpture, Native American
ceramics, jewelry, textiles, decorative arts
and antiquities. Its arboretum contains
more than 2,000 species of trees and
plants, many of them rare.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts, at Broad and Cherry streets,
specializes in American art, not only
classicists like Thomas Eakins but also
the current generation of artists working
and studying there. Eakins’ famous
work “Max Schmitt in a Single Scull,”
which currently resides at the Met, has
the Schuylkill River as its setting. The
river, that courses through Philadelphia,
was instrumental in the American and
Industrial revolutions, and continues its
historic role as the training ground for
collegiate and Olympic rowing teams
and as a recreational playground. The
Delaware River Waterfront Spruce
Street Harbor Park also stages events
like flea markets and pop-up markets.
As old as Philadelphia is, its streets
are also strikingly modern, full of restaurants, bars, galleries, shops, antiques and
much more. South Street, between Front
and 10th streets, is the city’s answer to
Greenwich Village, a hipster haven with
coffee shops, clothing boutiques, record
stores and punk emporiums.
Be advised: The World Meeting
of Families Conference, a gathering of
Catholics, will take place Sept. 22-25.
Pope Francis will visit Philadelphia Sept.
26-27, speak at Independence Hall on
the 26th and say a Mass for hundreds
of thousands of people on the Benjamin
Franklin Parkway on the 27th. A
concert on the 26th will include the
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, the Latin
pop star Juanes and the Philadelphia
Orchestra.
Philadelphia has long had a reputation for cheesesteaks and hoagies, but
it has since progressed so far beyond
that. A good place to start the culinary
adventure is the historic Reading
Terminal Market. It features fresh
meats, seafood, poultry, handmade confections, baked goods, Amish specialties,
flowers and everything for the kitchen
and dining room, as well as a large selection of restaurants.
The Dandelion, 124 S. 18th St., is
an English pub-style restaurant that
gives the lie to English cuisine, in a
lovely townhouse. City Tavern, 138 S.
2nd St., a building dating to 1773, lets
diners taste 18th-century dishes, served
by staff dressed in period clothing, while
serenaded by a harpist playing period
music. You can buy their cookbook and
try the recipes at home. Around the
corner, the Old Original Bookbinder’s
seafood restaurant dated to 1893, but
closed in 2009. It was replaced and
restored in January 2015 by The Olde
Bar seafood restaurant operated by the
chef Jose Garces, to good reviews.
Other sights include the One
Liberty Observation Deck, scheduled
to open this fall and provide panoramic
views of the city from the 57th floor
of One Liberty Place; the Franklin
Institute Science Museum’s hands-on
displays and exhibitions; and the Old
City district, which offers entertainment, shopping, dining and cultural
events.
For sports fans, there are, of course,
the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers and Flyers.
But why not try a Philadelphia Union
Major League Soccer game at PPL
Park, about 16 miles southwest of
downtown, in Chester, Pa.? With seats
as cheap as $27 and good sight lines in
the 18,500-seat stadium, it’s a good bet.
There is so much more to see and
do in Philly. Whatever W.C. Fields
might have thought about the city, he’d
probably love it today.
PHILADELPHIA
INFORMATION
Philadelphia tourism: historicphiladelphia.org/, visitphilly.com/
Old City: oldcitydistrict.org/
South Street: southstreet.com/
Independence Hall: www.nps.gov/
inde/index.htm
Elfreth’s Alley: elfrethsalley.org/
Independence Seaport Museum:
phillyseaport.org/
Reading Terminal Market: readingterminalmarket.org/
Philadelphia Museum of Art: philamuseum.org
Barnes Foundation: barnesfoundation.org/
Page 9
CREATIVE DISRUPTION
The Chinese, Technology, & Us
By John F. McMullen
In the days, following
the stock turmoil caused
by the great sell-off on the
Chinese Stock Exchange,
it is well to review our
economic history with the Asian part of
the world and the role that technology has
played.
In the post-World War II days, one
Asian country after another became the
home of low-cost manufacturing. Right
after the war, it was Japan that fit that
description – so much so that one regularly
heard the expression “as cheap as something
made in Japan.” That image of Japan lasted
only until Sony and Panasonic set new
standards for quality and, by then, the really
cheap labor had moved to South Korea
– and the cycle repeated itself as Samsung
emerged and cheap labor moved to Taiwan
and then to South East Asia.
During this period, the majority
of manufacturing in Asia was for local
companies such as Sony or Toyota or for
components that could be exported to the
US for inclusion in US electronic devices
– firms such as IBM and Data General
established procurement offices in Asian
countries to purchase these parts. In the
same period, the largest country in the
world, China – then known as Communist
or Red China – was held outside the circle
of world trade, first by all industrial countries and, then, as support for such exclusion
waned, by the United States alone.
The China policy changed dramatically
when President Nixon, after a preliminary
visit by Secretary of State Kissinger, visited
China in 1972 and “reopened it to the family
of nations.” Immediately, Coca-Cola and
other companies, seeing China as a country
of one billion consumers, rushed to establish
manufacturing and distribution facilities
there. Under President Jimmy Carter, the
relationship with China was normalized
totally and the United States recognized the
former world pariah as the “true China.”
This opened the door to US companies
moving in to transfer manufacturing from
the US to China to take advantage of the
low cost of manufacturing – both because
of very low wages and the absence of US
safety and other labor laws. This influx of
US manufacturing was accelerated due to
the development of the high speed Internet.
Now, US companies could keep in constant
touch with their Chinese subsidiaries and
suppliers and the rush to China accelerated. China rapidly became a combination
Communist (in theory) and Capitalist (in
great practice) nation.
While the government seemed to be
moving from Marxism to Rockefellerism,
one thing remained constant – the authoritarianism of the government – and the
government saw the fledging Internet as
a real threat to what it called “good social
order.”
Even before the Internet has developed
a large Chinese footprint, Chinese concern
about the infusion of “decadent Western
democracy theories” into its culture was
apparent. In the early 1990s, while teaching
at Monroe College, one of my “Senior
Seminar” course groups had encryption as a
subject and a very Chinese émigré led off the
presentation by taking a blank piece of white
paper and writing some Chinese on the
page. He then held the flame from a cigarette lighter under the page and the Chinese
character disappeared and an English
language diatribe against the practices of the
Chinese government came into view. He
would then mail his criticisms to Radio Free
Asia and other agencies.
I asked him how he had learned this
ability to hide messages in such a fashion
and he explained, “By listening to Radio
Free Asia.” He went on to tell the class,
however, that he was caught and spent five
years confined to a school for “re-education”.
When I asked him how he got caught, he
replied “The government listens to Radio
Free Asia too.”(Upon release,he was warned
that,should he return to his unpatriotic ways,
he would receive a harsher sentence – he did
return to his ways but, upon being warned
that he was in jeopardy, he took refuge in the
US Embassy and wound up in my class).
With the advent of the Internet, China
imposed strict censorship on material going
in and out of China and has made all Internet
Service Providers in the country responsible
for the behavior of their customers, effectively turning them into eavesdropping
agents of the state. Just last week, China
announced that it has arrested 15,000
individuals for “cybercrimes” and plans to
step up its enforcement even more (http://
www.pcworld.com/article/2973106/chinaarrests-15-000-for-internet-related-crimes.
html).
While such censorship and infringement in what US citizens see as personal
liberty may seem outrageous to many, some
facts may put these activities into some perspective (at least in China’s view) – China
has the largest Internet population in the
world with 668 million users (out of a 2014
reported population of 1,393,783,836 – a
little under 50% of the population). China’s
present population is a little over ½ the total
world population in 1950 and around 2 1/2
times what its population was then.
While the new method of doing
business in China has been good to the
country – for example, its computer manufacturer, Lenovo, is the largest seller of PCs
in the world – the rapid changes bring
concern, even paranoia (perhaps wellfounded) to the government. If .001 – one
1/10 of 1 percent of the population became
disenchanted with the government, that’s
1,393,784 people – perhaps good reason to
be looking over one’s shoulder.
Back to the stock market crash –
analysts have had a number of theories
for the fall off – Chinese interest rates,
slowness in growth after years of double
digit expansion, etc. The one I like is the
mixed Communist / Capitalist government
– the central planning government pushes
industry, particularly the auto industry, to
produce, produce, produce – to show the
efficiency and production capability of this
new industrial giant – yet the low-wage
workers can’t afford to buy the cars and
the industry is over supplied. Even those
of US economists who argue for a heavily
government (taxpayer) subsidized “safety
net” don’t wish the government to telling
manufactures of automobiles or computers
how many to produce – they leave that up to
“supply and demand.”
No matter what the reason for the
Chinese meltdown, it has obviously affected
the entire world economy. Prior to 1972,
we depended on the CIA to know China’s
economy was doing. Post Nixon and Carter,
we depended on American business and
international papers (often heavily censored)
to let us know what was going on. In the
post Internet Global Economy, rumbles
in one part of the world can lead to earthquakes in others.
We are still trying to cope with job
displacement due to off-shoring and technological innovation; the recent stock
market declines show us that economic
interdependence and information sharing
are other aspects of technology and the
Global Economy that we must learn to deal
with.
Please send along any of your Internet
information gathering strategies to
[email protected].
Creative Disruption is a continuing series
examining the impact of constantly accelerating technology on the world around us. These
changers normally happen under our personal
radar until we find that the world as we knew
it is no more.
John F. McMullen is a writer, poet, college professor and radio host. Links to other writings,
Podcasts, & Radio Broadcasts at www.
johnmac13.com, and his books are available on
Amazon.
© 2015 John F. McMullen
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Page 10
CALENDAR
The 91stAnnual Yorktown Grange China: Through the Looking Glass Exhibit
Fair Takes Place Sept. 10 -13 Extended at The Metropolitan Museum of
Art; Closes Labor Day, Sept. 7th
The 91st Annual Yorktown
Grange Fair takes place next weekend,
September 10-13 at the Fairgrounds, 99
Moseman Ave. in Yorktown Heights,
NY 10598. A celebration of Northern’
Westchester’s agricultural heritage, the
fair features livestock, produce, agricultural products, carnival rides and flower
exhibits.
Competitions will be held for
Art, Baking, A Flower Show, Legos,
Livestock, Needlework, Photography
and Produce.
Beatles Tribute Band Strawberry
Fields will headline the entertainment,
Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 PM. Other
bands who will provide entertainment throughout the weekend include:
Overhill Shennanigans, Justin Veatch
Fund All Stars, Andrea and the
Armenian Rug Riders, Unfunded
Mandate, Chain of Fools, Lori and
Mike Barr and the Bob Martinson
Band. Check the website for the
schedule and any last minute changes.
All of the animals, music, shows,
demonstrations, contests and exhibits
are free with paid admission to the Fair.
For more information, please visit www.
yorktowngrangefair.org
New York, August 28, 2015
The Metropolitan Museum
of Art today announced
extended hours for the final
weekend of its extraordinarily
popular Costume Institute
exhibition China: Through
the Looking Glass. On Friday,
September 4, and Saturday,
September 5, the exhibition will
remain open to the public for
three additional hours, closing
at midnight. The Museum
normally closes at 9:00 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday evenings.
The exhibition closes on Labor
Day, Monday, September 7.
The Museum’s Great Hall
Balcony Bar, adjacent to the
exhibition’s final gallery, will be
open with appetizers and full
bar service until midnight. The
Met Store’s exhibition shop for
China will also be open, and
features a range of products
inspired by the exhibition, including the
exhibition catalogue and an exclusive
collection of fashion accessories, jewelry,
and stationery. The China: Through the
Looking Glass galleries are the only
galleries open to the public during the
extended hours.
The exhibition, which opened
on May 7, has already been extended
by three weeks —from August 16 to
September 7 —and has so far drawn
more than 730,000 visitors, surpassing
the
record-breaking
Alexander
McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011) to
become The Costume Institute’s highest
attended exhibition ever. The McQueen
exhibition, which was the Met’s eighth
most popular show, had a total of
661,509 visitors.
Encompassing
approximately
30,000 square feet in 16 separate galleries in the Museum’s Chinese and
Egyptian Galleries and Anna Wintour
Costume Center, it is The Costume
Institute’s largest special exhibition ever, and also one of the
Museum’s largest. With gallery
space three times the size of a
typical Costume Institute major
spring exhibition, China has
accommodated large numbers
of visitors without lines.
The exhibition explores the
impact of Chinese aesthetics
on Western fashion and how
China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries.
High fashion is juxtaposed with
Chinese costumes, paintings,
porcelains, and other art, including films, to reveal enchanting
reflections of Chinese imagery.
The exhibition, curated by
Andrew Bolton, is a collaboration between The Costume
Institute and the Department
of Asian Art. Wong Kar Wai
is artistic director and Nathan
Crowley served as production
designer.
The exhibition is made possible by
Yahoo.
Additional support is provided
by Condé Nast and several Chinese
donors.
Tickets are available at the Met,
as well as in advance on the Museum’s
website, and on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter using #ChinaLookingGlass
and #AsianArt100.
The 23rd Annual Yonkers Riverfest Sept. 12, 2015 Starts at Noon on The Waterfront
The Yonkers Waterfront will rock
next Saturday as the city celebrates the
23rdAnnual Riverfest, a gathering that
attracts more than 25,000 visitors every
year. One of the largest family-friendly
gatherings in Westchester, the free
festival is sponsored by The Yonkers
Downtown BID, the City of Yonkers
and Domino Sugar and will take place
rain or shine.
At deadline 25 bands are scheduled
to entertain the crowd on stages set up
across the waterfront. Singer Outasight!
--Richard Andrews, who was raised
in Yonkers, is among the many performers in the lineup that at deadline
also includes Bon Jovi Tribute Band, 1
Wild Night; 3D Rhythm of Life with
two time Grammy nominee Michael
Tate; Best Children’s Album Grammy
Nominee Alastair Moock; Love and
Hip-Hop stars Amina Buddafly and
Peter Gunz; Chaser (Hard Rock);
Emish (Irish Fold Rock); Hudson River
Blues Band (Rock); kids band Josh and
the Jamstones; tribute band Kiss Alive;
La Mecánica Popular –(Salsa); a little
bit “Country and a little bit Rock and
Roll” Lawrence Cooley.
The Legends of Motown (Leonard,
Coleman & Blunt) will appear and
include members of the Temptaions, the
Platters and the Drifters who promise to
play “Under the Boardwalk,” “My Girl,”
and “Save the Last Dance for Me,” for
all their loyal fans.
Utilizing the “Maker Faire” model,
booths will showcase inventions
and new technologies, including 3D
printing, home inventions and environmental exhibits.
The Pickle Pavilion will be among
the many food vendors.
Page 11
EYE ON THEATRE
Where’s The Love?
By John Simon
A. R. Gurney has
written 45 plays, which
strikes me as too many.
To be sure, Calderon
wrote almost 120, but
that was in the 17th century, when it was
relatively easy to come up with something new. Nowadays, when so much
has already been done, it is much harder
to hit upon new, viable ideas. Bernard
Shaw, granted, wrote over fifty plays,
but Shaw was a genius, whereas Gurney
is only a talent.
Still, some of his are good enough
for occasional revivals, and “Love
Letters” promises to be a perennial
favorite. It is the recent ones that have
been misfiring, especially when, like the
current “Love & Money,” they were
a commission that could not wait for
actual inspiration. “Silvia,” an older and
much better play, is scheduled for proximate remounting.
So what exactly is wrong with
“Love & Money”? It reeks of contrivance and is sweaty under the collar. Even
at a mere 75 minutes it feels overlong
and padded. It opens on a splendid set
by Michael Yeargan of the living room
of a luxurious Upper East Side apartment, but nothing that follows seems
A. R. Gurney Photo by Gregory
Costanzo
quite worthy of inhabiting it.
Cornelia Cunningham, in her early
seventies, is divesting herself of all her
valuable possessions, which include
substantial works of art and oodles of
money. At the opening, she is at her
desk, writing checks to various charities and institutions, but very little to any
descendants.
Her son, a drunkard, committed
suicide; her daughter, haughtily late for
everything, was so also for medical help,
and died of cancer. There are a couple
Joe Paulik (Harvel Abel), Gabriel Brown (Walker “Scott” Williams) & Maureen Anderman (Cornelia Cunningham) in the
Signature Theatre Production of Love & Money.
of unseen grandchildren, but they don’t unpleasant new wrinkle. A very young piece of the pie. He is a Buffalonian, and
seem to be particularly close or perhaps man, Walker “Scott” Williams, hitherto here let’s pause for a moment.
even deserving. She appears, by the unknown, claims to be her grandson via
Gurney, born into an upper-class
way, much too hale and hearty for such her promiscuous daughter, seeking a Buffalo family, has two main dramatic
Continued on page 12
divesting, and far from eager for the
luxury retirement home that awaits her.
Her wealth, however, feels like a crime
to her.
And now comes her young lawyer,
Harvey Abel, confronting her with an
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Page 12
EYE ON THEATRE
Where’s The Love?
surpassed only by his knowledge and
ability to sing Cole Porter songs. It
seems that his family, like the affluent
WASPs, would foregather around the
piano for singalongs.
Indeed, there is in this living room
a player piano that had an Irving
Berlin repertoire, but that Cornelia
got changed to a more sophisticated
Porter one. The piano is being willed
to the Juilliard Theatrical Department,
and in due time a student, Jessica
Worth (who, despite her name, is
Korean), arrives to test it out. This in
itself is fairly unconvincing, as is Scott’s
instant falling for her even though she
brushes him off.
More than one character performs
Porter songs, without which, as without
Fitzgerald, this short play would be even
shorter. Harvey is convinced that Scott is
a phony, and keeps interjecting unfunny
sarcasms, which their butt fields with
calm hauteur. Everything depends on
whether Cornelia will accept his claim,
and her attitude seems naively or intuitively accepting of this smooth but fairly
obvious impostor.
At this point Gurney lets out
a confession, his awareness of a
John Guare play (“Six Degrees of
Separation”), in which a similar black
man fools members of a white, upperclass family into believing him to be
the son of Sidney Poitier. That superior
play may well have been the begetter of
this very much inferior one.
I will not go into how, improbably,
it all turns out, with the cheerful ending
even more unlikely. Mark Lamos, a
good director, has managed what could
be done with the intractable material,
Remembering the ‘Old Put’ 2
of adding branch lines. A route to White
Plains from Elmsford was surveyed.
Another potential route branched off
to Ossining from Whitsons, named for
Charles H. Whitson, the Putnam’s first
station agent there. Whitsons would
later have its name changed to Briarcliff
Manor.
topics. One is the city of Buffalo, its
history and decline from commercial
prominence and cultural centrality.
This is mirrored in topic number two,
the fate of the wealthy, upper-class
WASP families, whose sons drink
lustily and daughters marry into equal
wealth, but all of whose lives, like the
city’s, are fading inexorably.
So Cornelia bears up under the
claims of Scott, elegantly dressed,
well-spoken, and African-American.
It seems that her daughter produced
a son with Scott’s married father.
That nickname was bestowed on him
by a teacher impressed by his pupil’s
expertise in Scott Fitzgerald’s oeuvre,
but his cast is not all it might be. Joe
Paulik is convincing as Harvey, and
handles the transition from patient
to frantic persuasively. As Cornelia,
Maureen Anderman, formerly a
winning young actress, returns auspiciously as an elder one, but strikes
me as slightly too young for the part
despite a white wig. As a sardonic but
devoted Irish cook and chambermaid,
Pamela Dunlap couldn’t be more
pungent.
But what about the Scott of
Gabriel Brown? He is the innocent
victim of being a beanpole, a good
head-and-a-half taller than everyone
else, and so coming across as a refugee
from a basketball court if not indeed
Mars. The imbalance is disturbing
to watch. Problematic too is Kahyun
Kim as the Korean music student,
whom the script describes as beautiful, but who strikes me as anything
but. She can, however, sing. Yet is her
brief, undramatic presence a justification for “love” in the title? Not even the
much asserted, terrible curse or crime
of wealth is conveyed with anything
like fullness.
In recent plays, including this one,
Gurney speaks about the theater, positively although somewhat less so about
actors, whom he calls con artists gone
straight. Thus he has Cornelia say,
not entirely in character, “The theater
is one of the last few enterprises in
the country which is not dependent
on whether you’re young or old, rich
or poor, WASP or Jew or AfricanAmerican.” A worthy sentiment, but
tell that to certain mature actresses
who have great difficulties getting cast.
The New York & Northern hovered
on the brink of bankruptcy. By year’s
end, some 16,000 businesses had failed,
among them companies that controlled
over a third of the nation’s rail system.
Banker J. Pierpont Morgan worked
feverishly with fellow bankers to buy up
other failed lines and reorganize them
and bring them under the banks’ control.
(A wag coined the verb “Morganize” to
describe this process.)
By the end of the decade, most of
the country’s bankrupt rail lines east of
the Mississippi had been picked over
by J.P. Morgan and combined into six
huge rail systems controlled by Wall
Street. He reorganized the New York &
Northern as the New York & Putnam
Railroad and immediately leased it
to Vanderbilt’s New York Central &
Hudson River Railroad.
Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet
Co. was Yonkers largest employer and
LOCAL LORE
Iron Ore, Milk and Commuters
By Robert Scott
The New York City
& Northern never gave
up the original idea
of offering service to
Boston over an inland
route. On May 28, 1882, it began two
weekday round trips over the 127 miles
between High Bridge and Hartford,
Connecticut. A connection was made
at Brewster with the New York &
New England Railroad, which had
completed the Boston, Hartford & Erie
line originally planned to reach Fishkill
Landing. At Hartford, passengers could
catch a connecting train for Boston.
Despite its lucrative traffic in iron
ore and burgeoning passenger revenue,
the new line was unable to meet interest
payments, and went into receivership.
Foreclosure followed in 1887, when the
railroad and its property were sold to a
bondholders’ committee.
Even as the New York City &
Northern was going under, a 3.1-mile
branch line was under construction.
Incorporated in 1879 as the Yonkers
Rapid Transit Railway, it opened in
March of 1888, branching off from
the Put’s main line north of the Van
Cortlandt station and ending at Getty
Square in Yonkers.
Westchester’s population was
growing rapidly. Almost immediately a
rush of real-estate activity began around
each of the three new stations named
Park Hill, Lowerre and Caryl, each with
peaked and gabled roofs and generous
overhangs. A flag stop named Mosholu
was located in Van Cortlandt Park.
In 1890 and 1891, R.V. Harnett
& Co. auctioned land from the estate
of hardware magnate Seaman Lowerre
located between South Broadway and
the present Saw Mill River Parkway.
Within a few years, its new streets were
lined with middle-class homes.
By the early 1890’s, rich iron
deposits were discovered in Minnesota
and threatened iron ore production at
Tilly Foster and Mahopac. A series
of mine accidents at both mines only
accelerated their inevitable closing.
Overnight through-train service
between New York and Boston was
added on December 1, 1892. A contract
with the American Express Company
guaranteed the railroad $1,200 a month
for the operation of express cars over
the route., However, passenger revenues
were less than projected. After only five
months, the night train service and
the express company contract were
terminated.
To develop new markets, the New
York & Northern explored the feasibility
J. Pierpont Morgan. Photo copyright
Pach Bros. NYC
Another Panic
As in 1873, the financial panic of
1893 began with the failure of a railroad,
the Philadelphia & Reading, a victim
of unrestrained empire building and a
chronic financial invalid. Wall Street
worried that the entire overbuilt and
shoddily financed American railroad
network would topple as well.
Their worries were justified. Other
railroads went under at a terrifying rate.
Continued on page 13
Page 13
LOCAL LORE
Remembering the ‘Old Put’ 2
the Put’s biggest customer. Located on
a one-mile spur, it manufactured 42,000
yards of carpet daily.
Freight traffic picked up briefly on
the Putnam during the building of the
New Croton Dam and Aqueduct. The
dam proved to be a mixed blessing. To
span the enlarged Croton Reservoir,
the railroad had to build a new crossing.
This 384-foot Baltimore-truss bridge
rested on arched concrete abutments
and is still in use by bikers and hikers. It
carries the North County Trailway over
the reservoir.
Shipment of milk from dairy farms
along the route of the New York &
Northern had always been profitable for
the Put, but the closing of dairy farms
in New York City’s newly expanded
watershed area only added to the New
York & Putnam’s losses.
With the development of refrigerator cars, it was possible to bring
milk from farther upstate and southern
New England. In 1907, Walter Law
decided to move his Briarcliff Farms
with its model dairy and dairy herds
from Briarcliff Manor to Pine Plains in
Dutchess County.
Over the years, the Putnam
Division had always been a rail line in
flux. In 1902, two miles of the branch
line to the shuttered Mahopac iron
mining operation was abandoned.
In 1911, a branch line was built
from Yorktown Heights to Mohansic
Lake, with a wooden trestle across Crom
Pond to serve the proposed 6,000patient mental hospital and school
for delinquents. Fearing pollution of
the Croton Reservoir, New York City
objected to the intended construction.
Budget appropriations dried up.
At the turn of the century,
commuters on Westchester railroads,
including those fed into the Hudson
line by the Putnam were traveling
to and from the old Grand Central
Terminal through the Park Avenue
“tunnel”--actually a partially covered
trench. Smoke and steam in the poorly
ventilated tunnel resulted in a series of
accidents.
The mishaps reached a climax
in January of 1902. A White Plains
Harlem Division local passed a stop
signal and plowed into the rear car of
a New Haven commuter rain stopped
in the tunnel, splitting it in two and
killing 17 New Rochelle residents.
Westchester mayors demanded that
steam locomotives be banned from the
tunnel. State legislators ordered them to
cease operation underground by 1908.
The Central Modernizes
Low clearance in the tunnel
The New York City & Northern Reilroad. Phot-New York Historical Society
precluded use of overhead wires, so the
New York Central opted for a protected
third rail system carrying about 600
volts of DC current. Coal-fired plants
were constructed at Port Morris and
Glenwood in Yonkers to supply the
electricity.
General Electric in Schenectady was
selected to design electric locomotives
and created a model that weighed less
than a 171-ton steam locomotive, yet
developed more horsepower.
Operation of electric trains began
in 1903; those on the Hudson Division
at first terminated at High Bridge.
State law required electrification only
as far north as the tip of Manhattan,
but the New York Central decided to
electrify the heaviest commuting areas.
Electrification reached Westchester by
1907 and Croton-Harmon by 1913.
In 1913, the New York Central
also opened a monumental Beaux Arts
style terminal on the site that had been
occupied by an earlier depot dating
from 1871. Architects Warren and
Wetmore used the available space with
remarkable economy. Grand Central
Terminal’s famous concourse, a gigantic
room measuring 287 feet long, 120 feet
wide and 125 feet from floor to ceiling,
inspired awe in all who viewed it.
Restored in 2007 to its original
magnificence, its walls are of white
Grand Central Terminal’s famous concourse. Original photography & stitching by Diliff ®, horizontal correction by Janke©
Botticini marble imported from Italy.
Its famous information booth topped
by a four-sided gold clock has been the
meeting place for uncounted thousands
of travelers.
In its ceiling of cerulean blue,
illuminated constellations of the zodiac
twinkle. Amateur astronomers have
long delighted in pointing out that
through an error in design and painting,
the ecliptic of the zodiac runs the wrong
way, and actually shows a mirror image
of the night sky.
The terminal covers three blocks
between 42nd and 45th streets, but the
two-level railroad yard extends under
Park Avenue to 59th Street. There, the
41 tracks of the upper level for longdistance trains and the 26 tracks on the
lower level for suburban trains converge
to a single-level four-track line that
remains underground until 96th Street.
Deep under the 34 miles of yard track is
a power plant.
On a typical weekday in 1913, the
year the terminal opened, 139 New York
Central suburban trains and another 50
New Haven trains serving Westchester
and Connecticut used the lower level.
Since opening day, an average of two
million people have passed through
Grand Central Terminal every month.
In 1916, Putnam Division trains
again began and ended at the original
High Bridge station. Passengers could
transfer here to and from Hudson
Division connecting trains by merely
crossing the platform. They could also
board subway trains to Manhattan at
the nearby IRT station at Sedgwick
Avenue.
Editor’s note: Read the next chapter in
the story of the ‘Old Put’ in next week’s issue
of The Westchester Guardian.
Page 14
CALENDAR
News & Notes From Northern Westchester
By Mark Jeffers
September is brotherin-law birthday month
for the Jeffers gang, Peter;
Breck & Ken all celebrate
and certainly have more
candles on their cake than I do, so after I
help the boys blow out hundreds of candles,
I wrote this week’s “Family Ties” edition of
“News & Notes.”
An exhibit featuring sculptures by a
blind artist will open with a reception on
Saturday, September 12th from 1 to 4pm,
at the Gallery in the Park at Ward Pound
Ridge Reservation.Titled “Blind Ambition:
Carving Out a Niche,” the exhibition comprises wood sculpture and raised carvings
by Ron Davidson, a skilled woodworker
who built cabinets for a living before an eye
disease left him totally sightless 15 years ago.
In deciding how to deal with his physical
challenge, which most people would
consider a disabling condition, he chose
to create art. Shortly after he lost his sight,
friends gave him a woodcarver’s knife and
instructed him in the basics of woodcarving. The exhibition runs through Sunday,
November 1st, and is on view daily from
9am to 4:30pm.
Over at the Muscoot Farm in Somers
on Sunday September 6th there will be
“Weather Folklore” from 1 to 3pm. Learn
how the farmers of old predicted the
weather,and then make a craft to take home.
The New York Unit of the Herb
Society of America will hold its 67th Annual
Herb Fair at the John Jay Homestead State
Historic Site on Thursday, September 17th.
Many varieties of herbs and plants, including some unusual ones, will be available for
purchase and Herb Society members will
be present to advise on herb use and cultivation. Deirdre Larkin, Horticulturist and
Plant Historian, will be available to answer
questions. The event runs from 11am to
2pm. The John Jay Homestead is located
at Route 22 (400 Jay Street) in Katonah,
admission is free, and the event takes place
rain or shine.
On Sunday, September 27th at
LE G A L N O T I C E S
SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS
Index No.: 11047-11
Date of Filing: August 11, 2015
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF Westchester
BANK OF AMERICA, NA., Plaintiff,
-against-
JOHN DOE 1 THROUGH 10; JANE DOE 1 THROUGH 10, INTENDING TO BE THE UNKOWN HEIRS OF THE ESTATE OF
JOHN PIDVIRNY DECEASED AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF ANY OF THE AFORESAID DEFENDANTS WHO
MAY BE DECEASED, AND THE RESPECTIVE HEIRS AT LAW, NEXT OF KIN, DISTRIBUTEES, DEVISEES, GRANTEES,
TRUSTEES, LIENORS, CREDITORS, ASSIGNEES AND SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST OF THE AFORESAID CLASSES OF
PERSONS, IF THEY OR ANY OF THEM BE DEAD, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE HUSBANDS, WIVES OR WIDOWS, IF ANY, ALL
OF WHOM AND WHOSE NAMES AND PLACES OF RESIDENCE ARE UNKOWN TO THE PLAINTIFF; NEW YORK STATE
DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA-INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE; “JOHN DOES” and “JANE DOES”, said names being fictitious, parties intended
being possible tenants or occupants of premises, and corporations, other entities or persons who claim, or may claim, a lien against the
premises, Defendants.
TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the
complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a Notice of Appearance on the Plaintiff’s attorney(s) within twenty (20)
days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service, where service is made by delivery upon you personally within the State, or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner,
and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in
the complaint.
NOTICE
YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME
If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage
company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may
be entered and you can lose your home.
Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons
and protect your property.
Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action.
YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE
COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.
YOU ARE HEREBY PUT ON NOTICE THAT WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT, AND ANY INFORMATION
OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE
TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:
The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable William J. Giacomo of
the Supreme Court of the State of New York, signed on July 30, 2015, and filed with supporting papers in the Office of the
Clerk of the County of Westchester, State of New York.
The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage upon the premises described below, executed by John Pidvirny
to EVERBANK REVERSE MORTGAGE, LLC in the principal amount of $544,185.00, which mortgage was recorded in
Westchester County, State of New York, on October 21, 2008, as Control Number 482880626. Said instruments were
assigned to plaintiff by assignment of mortgage dated April 5, 2010 and recorded on April 23, 2010 as Control #500503371.
Said premises being known as and by 8 Cottage Place, Tuckahoe, NY 10707.
Date:
July 20, 2015 Batavia, New York
Virginia C Grapensteter, Esq.
ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Batavia Office 26 Harvester Avenue
Batavia, NY 14020
585.815.0288
Help For Homeowners In Foreclosure
New York State Law requires that we send you this notice about the foreclosure process. Please read it carefully.
Mortgage foreclosure is a complex process. Some people may approach you about “saving” your home. You should
be extremely careful about any such promises. The State encourages you to become informed about your options in
foreclosure. There are government agencies, legal aid entities and other non-profit organizations that you may contact for
information about foreclosure while you are working with your lender during this process. To locate an entity near you, you
may call the toll-free helpline maintained by the New York State Banking Department at 1-877-BANKNYS (1-877-226-5697)
or visit the Department’s website at www.banking.state.ny.us. The State does not guarantee the advice of these agencies.
Filed: 7/1/2014
Index No. 60119/2014
Plaintiff designates WESTCHESTER County as place of trial Venue is based upon County in which premises are being situate SUMMONS WITH NOTICE
ACTION TO OR FORECLOSE A MORTGAGE
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER
CITIMORTGAGE, INC. Plaintiff,
-against’
ROBERT WHEELER; JO-ANNA RODRIGUEZ-WHEELER A/K/A JOANNA WHEELER AKA JO-ANNA R. WHEELER A/K/A JO-ANNA WHEELER;
CITIBANK, N.A.; ROBERT WEISS; DOMIANO GUASTELLA; SALVATORE GUASTELLA; BMW FINANCIAL SERVICES NA LLC; “JOHN DOE #1”
through “JOHN DOE #10” inclusive, the names of the ten last name Defendants being fictitious, real names unknown to the Plaintiff, the parties intended
being persons or corporations having an interest in, or tenants or persons in possession of, portions of the mortgaged premises described in the Complaint,
Defendants,
TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS:
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your Answer or, if the Complaint is not served with this
Summons, to serve a Notice of Appearance upon the Plaintiffs attorney within twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the date of service
or within thirty (30) days after the service is complete if this Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. If you fail to so appear or
answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.
DATED: Elmsford, New York
June 30, 2014
NOTICE
YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME
If you do not respond to this summons and. complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure
proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home.
Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for farther information on how to answer the summons and protect your property.
Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action,
YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF CITIMORTGAGE, INC. AND FILING
THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.
Mark R. Knuckles
Knuckles, Komosinski & Elliott, LLP Attorneys for Plaintiff
565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523 Phone: (914) 345-3020
THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, NOTICE TO OCCUPANTS:
CITIMORTGAGE, INC. IS FORECLOSING AGAINST THE OWNER OF THIS PREMISES. IF YOU LIVE HERE, THIS LAWSUIT MAY RESULT IN
YOUR EVICTION. YOU MAY WISH TO CONTACT A LAWYER TO DISCUSS ANY RIGHTS AND POSSIBLE DEFENSES YOU MAY HAVE.
NOTICE OF OBJECT OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT
THE OBJECT of the above-entitled action is to foreclose a purchase money mortgage to secure $580,000.00 plus interest, recorded in the Office of the County
Clerk/City Register of the County of Westchester on April 9, 2007 as Control Number 470810077.
TO THE ABOVE DEFENDANT: The foregoing Summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to Order the Hon. William J. Ciacomo, a Justice of the
Supreme Court, Westchester County, dated Aug. 14, 2015 and filed with the complaint and other papers in the Westchester County Clerk’s Office, White
Plains, NY. Prem. k/a 1 Deer Park Drive, Amawalk, New York a/k/a Section 36.12, Block 3, Lot 7.
The relief sought in the within action is final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the mortgage described
above.
The Plaintiff makes no personal claim against any Defendants in this action except Robert Wheeler #86575
Notice of formation of 515 Creative Print Solutions, LLC,
filed with SSNY on 06/5/2015. Office location: Westchester
County. Principal office of 515 Creative Print Solutions,
LLC: 16 Harmony Drive, Larchmont, N.Y. 10538. SSNY
designated as agent of 515 Creative Print Solutions, LLC
upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall
mail process to the LLC 16 Harmony Drive, Larchmont N.Y.
10538, upon whom and at which process may be served.
Purpose: any lawful purpose.
Notice of Formation of Natural Movement of Color/For A
Positive Change, LLC filed with SSNY on 8/6/2015. Office
location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent
of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall
mail process to Steve Mollette 214 Bleloch Ave. Peekskill
NY 10566. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.
WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN LEGAL ADVERTISING
[email protected]
Notice of Formation of MadeByRK LLC Art. Of Org. filed
with SSNY on 5/7/15. Office Location: Westchester
County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon
whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall
mail process to: Renée Kashuba, 21 Tappan Landing Rd,
Tarrytown, NY 10591. Purpose: any lawful purpose.
NOTICE OF FORMATION of FOUR COUSIN BURGERS
& FRIES OF WC, LLC. Articles of Organization were
filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on
8/10/2015. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY
has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom
process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy
of any process to the LLC c/o Gellfam Management Corp.,
173 Whippoorwill Road, Hillsdale, NY 12529. Purpose: For
any lawful purpose.
4:00pm, the Katonah Poetry Series kicks
off its 2015-2016 season at the Katonah
Library with two award-winning poets,
Jessica Greenbaum and Daniel Brown.
Jessica Greenbaum is the author of “The
Two Yvonnes” and “Inventing Difficulty,”
winner of the Gerald Cable Prize. As
a social worker, she initiated a poetry
workshop program with 9/11 first responders for the World Trade Center Health
Program. Her work has been published
in the “New Yorker,” “Poetry” and other
journals, and Ms. Greenbaum is Poetry
Editor for “Upstreet Literary” magazine.
In 2015, she was awarded an NEA fellowship grant in creative writing. Daniel
Brown has also authored two poetry collections: “What More?” and “Taking the
Occasion,” which won the New Criterion
Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in
such journals as “Poetry,” “Partisan Review,”
and “The New Criterion.” His work has
also been anthologized in “Poetry 180,”
“Fathers,” and other volumes. Admission
is a $10 donation/adult, students are free.
Doors open at 3:30pm for seating, a reception follows the readings.
The Marshlands Conservancy in
Rye, hosts a “Fall Bird Migration Hike”
on Sunday, September 6th from 7:30 to
10:30am, bring binoculars to seek out these
feathered wonders heading south for the
winter.
Starting this September, the gang at
Grand Prix New York (GPNY), a stateof-the-art entertainment facility in Mount
Kisco, will be expanding their offerings
to include Spins Music & Arts. This new
program will offer music and dance classes
to children from 0-6 years old. The new
addition enhances a long list of entertainment options offered by GPNY, including
indoor go kart racing, Spins Bowl, arcade,
Arts Garage, bouncy castle and the Fuel
restaurant, which provide fun for all ages.
Spins Music & Arts will be exclusively for
the kids, with each class focusing on different skills and activities.
Westchester County Parks is seeking
vendors to sell local food and products at the
Main Street Market,which will be held once
a month on select Sundays from November
through March at the Westchester County
Center in White Plains. No professional
antiques, collectible dealers, representatives
of nationally branded products or businesses
will be allowed, according to organizers,
space is limited to 35 vendors.
I can’t believe I am writing this already
but the area high school sports teams Fall
season are under way, head out and support
these great games and local players…see
you next week.
PUBLICATION EVERY THURSDAY: 914.216.1674 M-F 11A- 5P
SUBMIT ADS TUESDAY, 10 DAYS PRIOR TO RUN DATE
Page 15
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
The 31st Annual Alexandria Mediterranean Countries Film Festival (AMFF) 2015 September 2-8
Pays Homage to 120 Years Of Cinema And Honors The Memories Of Omar Sharif, Faten Hamama and Nour El-Sherif
By Sherif Awad
The 31st Alexandria
Mediterranean Countries
Film Festival (AMFF) is
coming to the Bibliotheca
Alexandrina, host of the opening and
closing ceremonies. Featuring more
than 300 films: short and long; documentaries and narratives; Arab and
Mediterranean; the Festival takes place
between September 2 and 8, presented
across Alexandria Cinemas and Cultural
Centers.
The opening ceremony of the
festival will commemorate the 120th
Anniversary of Cinema, as well as the
Lumière Brothers and their first film
projection on December 28, 1895 in
Lyon, France. The opening night will
feature a special screening of a short
film called “120 Years of International
Cinema,” assembled with clips taken
from silent classics and talkies. The film
was conceived of and edited by French
film student, Joris Fauçon Grimaud, who
also included clips from Egyptian films
like Destiny, by Youssef Chahine.
This year, AMFF expands its competitions from three into six. In addition
to the main Mediterranean Competition
for Long Narratives, the Mediterranean
Competition for Short Documentaries
and Narratives and the Competition
of Alexandrian filmmakers, the 31st
edition will feature three new ones: An
Arab Long Documentary Competition,
an Arab Short Competition for
Documentaries and Narratives and an
Arab Long Arab Narrative Competition.
Each Arab country can be represented
by one or two films
and the jury of the
competition will
have the option
of splitting the
50,000 EGP prize
between two of the
best Arab films.The
Catherine Courel jury of this competition will include
Locicero
Egyptian director
Omar Abdel-Aziz as president, along
with Lebanese artist Nadine El-Rassi,
Egyptian director
of
photography
Dr. Samir Farag,
Omani director Dr.
Khalid Al Zadjali
and
Jordanian
actress
Saba
Mubarak.
Saba Mubarak
Amir Ramses,
director of Cairo
Time, has agreed to present Nour
El-Sherif’s last film, in a special presentation followed by a symposium, as tribute
to the late artist.
The
festival’s
main
Mediterranean Long Narrative
Competition will also feature
many important films. Italian
director Laura Bispuri and Belgian
star Flonja Kodheli will attend
and present Sworn Virgin, an Albanian
drama about a Hana, a young woman
living at a Northern Albanian village who
Flonja Kodheli and Alba Rohrwacher
Sworn Virgin-2
must evoke an old law and take an oath
to remain a virgin for eternity. Years later,
as Mark, she leaves home for the first
time and travels to Italy to stay with her
sister, crossing over into a world unlike
anything she has known before.
The Story of Judas, by AlgerianFrench writer and director Rabah-Ameur
The Story of Judas
Liked
Zaïmeche retells the story of Judas and
his relationship with Jesus, whose teachings attract the attention of crowds,
high priests and the Roman authorities.
Zaïmeche also plays Judas, the titlecharacter. The jury of this competition
will include Egyptian star Ilham Shahin,
along with French screenwriter Catherine
Courel Locicero, Greek director of photography Yiannis Daskalothanasis,
Italian-Colombian veteran actor Lou
Castel, Tunisian director Nejib Belkadhi
and Algeria director Hassan Benjelloun.
The Mediterranean Short Film
Competition will feature more than
twenty films. Among them, Liked:
a Slovenian short by writer-director
Drazen Stader. The story involves misuse
of the internet and social media, revolving around seventeen year-old Anja, who
becomes the victim of web scandal when
someone posts an intimate video featuring her and her boyfriend.
In the Arab Long Documentary
Competition, the Tunisian-produced
War Reporter, was submitted by director
Mohamed Amine Bouhkris who
captures footage of the events of the socalled Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt,
Libya and Syria; much of it with his own
camera.
Sulaf Fawakherji will come to
Alexandria to show her directorial debut
Cherry Letters, among the film premieres: a romance between a young man
and a woman from the Syrian Occupied
Golan.
The organizers will also commemorate the names of the great Egyptian
artists we lost this year, by naming festival’s prizes for them: the Omar Sharif
Best Actor Award; the Faten Hamama
Best Actress Award; the Youssef
Chahine Best Director Award, the
Naguib Mahfouz Best Script Award and
the Kamal Mallakh, Best First or Second
Work Award after historian, writer and
the founder of Egyptian Association of
Film Writer and Critics, organizer of the
festival.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a
film/video critic and curator. He is the film
editor of Egypt Today Magazine (www.
EgyptToday.com) and the Artistic
Director for both the Alexandria film
Festival, and the Arab Rotterdam Festival
in The Netherlands. He also contributes
to Variety, in the United States and is the
Film Critic of Variety, Arabia (http://
amalmasryalyoum.com/ennode189132
and The Westchester Guardian: www.
WestchesterGuardian.com
MARY AT THE MOVIES
The Gift: Karma is a Boomerang
The Gift is a psychological thriller
from STX studios. The story line
involves Simon (Jason Bateman) and
Robin (Rebecca Hall), a young couple
who have just relocated from Chicago to
the suburbs of LA, Simon’s hometown.
We meet them as they are purchasing a
stylish Mid-Century Modern, not too
large, but full of tall windows that invite
the outdoors in.
Simon tentatively has a new job as
a sales director at a company that writes
applications for corporate computer
security. Robin is a designer who, for
unspecified reasons, has given up her
successful business in Chicago to create
a new home in LA. Simon is handsome,
successful and very personable; Robin is
sweet and somewhat shy with an inescapable sadness about her. They seem to
have everything going for them and are
very much in love.
As Robin and Simon are about
to leave a furniture store, they run into
someone who remembers Simon from
high school, though he has to prompt
Simon to remember his name is Gordo
(Joel Edgarton). Apparently he has
changed a bit since then. The somewhat
chance and awkward encounter ends
with Robin graciously inviting Gordo
to visit them and offering her telephone
number.
Simon and Robin
have a dog: Mr. Bo Jangles,
a sweet, hulking sheep
dog; good company but
not very ferocious: goodnatured Bo would wag his
tail at an ax murderer and
then lick his shoes.
Though Simon does
not seem to want to pick
up wherever their friendship left off, Gordo is
persistent in insinuating
himself into the couple’s
life, appearing unannounced and uninvited, generally when Simon is not home
and always with a gift. Simon cannot
understand why Gordo is trying to
cultivate their friendship,
for reasons he declines
to state, but he seems
nice enough to Robin,
who cannot understand
Simon’s diffidence.
Turns out, Simon
always thought Gordo
was a little weird but
does not tell Robin more
than this. Simon dimly
senses that Gordo has
an agenda yet he cannot
begin to comprehend
how his world will be
turned upside down as the past comes
back to haunt him and Gordo methodically teaches Simon a lesson he will never
forget… The bad things in life can be a
gift, Gordo tells him… You think you’re
done with the past…but the past isn’t
done with you.
It is not that difficult to see around
the corners of the plot line but the actors
deliver solid performances throughout.
The direction by Edgarton is a bit heavy
handed at times: the “scary music,” gets
pumped up way too loud at one point
and the following scene just doesn’t
deliver the expected dramatic punch. Yet
over all, this is an interesting, well-made
film that examines the long-term consequences of bullying and the “win at any
cost” mentality.
Produced by Jason Blum, Joel
Edgerton and Rebecca Yeldham.
Cinematography by Eduard Grau.
Distributed by STX Entertainment.
Page 16
Do You or Does Your Child Need Health Insurance?
Apply for enrollment all year long
for these New York State-sponsored health insurance programs
Child Health Plus
Free or low-cost monthly premiums
For children under 19 who live in New York State.
There are no copays for care or services. Coverage may be free or as little as $9 per child per
month based on income and family size.
Benefits to keep kids healthy and on the go
• Well-child care and checkups
• Immunizations
• Prescription drugs
• X-rays and lab tests
• Diagnosis and treatment of illness and injury
• Dental and vision care
• Hospital inpatient and emergency care
• Speech and hearing care
• and much more!
Medicaid
No monthly premiums!
Medicaid Managed Care is for children and adults
who live in New York State and who meet certain
income and disability requirements.
Benefits for you and your family
• Checkups
• Well-child visits
• Preventive care
• Immunizations
• Women’s health and pregnancy care
• Treatment for illness or injury
• X-rays and lab tests
• Hospital, emergency, and urgent care
• Prescription drug coverage (copays may apply)
• Dental care
• Eye exams and glasses
• Speech and hearing therapy (limits may apply)
• and much more!
It’s easy to apply - all year long!
Apply for Child Health Plus and Medicaid Managed Care offered by Fidelis Care through NY State of Health: The Official Health Plan Marketplace,
at www.nystateofhealth.ny.gov. A Fidelis Care Representative can help you complete an application form. Call 1-888-FIDELIS (1-888-343-3547).
To learn more about applying for health insurance, including Child Health Plus and Medicaid through NY State of Health: The Official Health Plan Marketplace, visit www.nystateofhealth.ny.gov or call 1-855-355-5777.
1-888-FIDELIS | fideliscare.org
(1-888-343-3547) •
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September 3, 2015 - WestchesterGuardian.com

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