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VOL.XLII / NO. 13 / November 17, 2021 Serving 47,125 readers weekly

CORNELL FBI, Cornell won’t confirm bomb threat suspect

The investigation into the bomb threat called into Cornell University on Nov. 7 is still under investigation, according to authorities. NBC News reported that a teenage gamer in Virginia is allegedly involved in the spate of bomb threats that included Yale University, Brown University, Columbia University, New York University and Cornell.

On Nov. 7 Cornell sent out its first alert at 2:13 p.m. urging people to evacuate and avoid the law school, Goldwin Smith, Upson Hall and Kennedy Hall. They eventually confirmed there had been a bomb threat to those buildings. Several hours later the campus was deemed safe and the following day the university called the incident a “cruel hoax.”

The suspect is said to be a 14-year-old. NBC also reported that several people communicating online through Discord were responsible for similar swatting incidents in Los Angeles in August and September, as well as 30 other bomb threats and swatting incidents. It’s unclear if the current spate of threats at universities is related. Swatting is the act of prank calling law enforcement with the sole purpose of inciting a large police response.

In a statement to the Ithaca Times on Nov. 15, Cornell’s vice president for university relations Joel Malina said Cornell is working in close collaboration with federal, state and other campus law enforcement agencies to investigate the threat made to Cornell and other similar threats to universities around the country. He declined to comment further as the investigation is ongoing.

The FBI was also tightlipped and would not confirm or deny any reporting or suspects. -Tanner Harding

Election 2 votes separate District 14 candidates; recount likely

The District 14 County Legislature race remains undecided after absentee and affidavit votes were counted on Monday, Nov. 15. The race, between incumbent Democrat Mike Lane and challenging Republican Tom Corey, was separated by just 20 votes after election night. After counting the remaining ballots, they’re separated by just two. Corey was ahead 838 votes to Lane’s 818 votes. However, as of Nov. 16, Lane has taken the lead with 866-864 after receiving the majority of absentee votes.

According to Stephen Dewitt, the Democratic commissioner for the Tompkins County Board of Elections, while they were opening affidavit and absentee ballots there were attorneys watching from both Lane’s and Corey’s campaigns. There were four ballots that were unopened because one or both attorneys disagreed with the decision to open them or not. Five others were opened but the candidates’ attorneys didn’t want Board of Elections counters to count certain ballots. The attorneys have until the end of the business day Thursday to initiate court action to uphold their arguments. If they don’t, Dewitt said, they will reconvene Friday to deal with the nine ballots.

Dewitt added that for three of them the attorneys took issue with the dating of the signature, one of the affidavit ballots the Board of Elections was not planning to count but the attorneys disagreed, and the others had perceived flaws in the way the ballots were marked.

“So we’ll just have to wait and see if they follow up on their objections,” Dewitt said.

Regardless of what happens with those nine ballots, there will be a manual recount of the ballots. There’s a law that states if a race is separated by 20 or fewer votes, a manual recount is required. Dewitt said the law is pretty new so this is the first time they’ve had to do it. The Board of Elections did a manual audit of 1,200 votes just to check for machine accuracy for this election and said that took about three days. However, they had to tally the results for all races, and Dewitt said this recount will likely be quicker because they only have to count one race. -Tanner Harding

Mike Lane and Tom Corey

T a k e N o t e

▶ What’s in a name? - The city of Ithaca is asking residents to share their ideas for what to name the department that will manage public safety functions. Ideas shared by the community will be considered by the city’s working group, which is charged with designing a new agency customtailored to provide solutions to the communtiy’s health and safety needs following the passage of the Reimagining Public Safety Plan. This will not re-name the Ithaca Police Department. The Ithaca Police Department will be included within this larger, currently unnamed, public safety department. Ideas for the naming of the department can be submitted through the Collaborative’s www. publicsafetyreimagined.org website. City of Ithaca Working group co-lead Eric Rosario stated, “We’re looking for the community’s creativity in naming this department. This is an opportunity to help establish the vision for what services and responses will be delivered by the department and how the community will view the work and services offered.”

FEATURES

In their words��������������������������������8

Tenants, landlords, residents speak out on the Right to Renew legislation Sports.........................................................10 A Master’s Work��������������������������13 Victoria Romanoff’s exhibit in T’burg shows off decades of artwork. Newsline ..................................................3-5 Opinion ........................................................6 Letters ........................................................7

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Stage .......................................................... 14 Film ............................................................. 16 Music ..........................................................17 Film .............................................................19 Times Table ..............................................20 Classifieds ...............................................22

ON THE WEB

Visit our website at www.ithaca.com for more news, arts, sports and photos. Call us at 607-277-7000

Tanner H arding , M anaging E ditor , x1224 E ditor @ i thacatim E s . com J aime Cone , E ditor , x1232 s outh r E port E r @ flcn . org C asey m ar T in , Staff P hotogra P h E r p hotograph E r @ i thacatim E s . com C H ris i ber T, C al E ndar E ditor , x1217 a rts @ i thacatim E s . com a ndrew s ullivan , S P ort S E ditor , x1227 s ports @ flcn . org sT eve l awren C e , S P ort S Colu M ni S t st E v E s ports d ud E @ gmail . com m ars H all H opkins , P rodu C tion d ir EC tor /d ES ign E r , x1216 p roduction @ i thacatim E s . com

s H aron d avis , d i S tribution front @i tha C ati MES . Co M

J im b ilinski , P ubli S h E r , x1210 jbilinski @ i thacatim E s . com l arry H o CH berger , a SS o C iat E P ubli S h E r , x1214 larry@ i thacatim E s . com F reelancers : Barbara Adams, Rick Blaisell, Steve Burke, Deirdre Cunningham, Jane Dieckmann, Amber Donofrio, Karen Gadiel, Charley Githler, Linda B. Glaser, Warren Greenwood, Ross Haarstad, Peggy Haine, Gay Huddle, Austin Lamb, Steve Lawrence, Marjorie Olds, Lori Sonken, Henry Stark, Dave Sit, Bryan VanCampen, and Arthur Whitman THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE ITHACA TIMES ARE COPYRIGHT © 2021, BY NEWSKI INC. All rights reserved. Events are listed free of charge in TimesTable. All copy must be received by Friday at noon. The Ithaca Times is available free of charge from various locations around Ithaca. Additional copies may be purchased from the Ithaca Times offices for $1. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $89 one year. Include check or money order and mail to the Ithaca Times, PO Box 27, Ithaca, NY 14851. ADVERTISING: Deadlines are Monday 5 p.m. for display, Tuesday at noon for classified. Advertisers should check their ad on publication. The Ithaca Times will not be liable for failure to publish an ad, for typographical error, or errors in publication except to the extent of the cost of the space in which the actual error appeared in the first insertion. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The Ithaca Times is published weekly Wednesday mornings. Offices are located at 109 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 607-277-7000, FAX 607-277-1012, MAILING ADDRESS is PO Box 27, Ithaca, NY 14851. The Ithaca Times was preceded by the Ithaca New Times (1972-1978) and The Good Times Gazette (1973-1978), combined in 1978. F ounder G ood Times G aze TT e : Tom Newton

INQUIRING PHOTOGRAPHER

By Casey Martin

ALRIGHT, IT’S GETTING TO THAT TIME OF YEAR. WHAT’S ONE MOVIE OR SHOW THAT WILL PUT YOU INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT?

“Home Alone 2. The one where they go to Florida. It’s just very funny!” -Lamarious D.

“The Grinch. Both the original and the Jim Carrey verisons. They remind me of my childhood.” -Jesenna K.

“All of the Simpsons Holiday specials!” -Kyle B.

“ELF!” -Avery W.

“National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Yes, I know Chevy Chase is a jerk.” -George E.

Picket Healthcare workers strike at nursing home over expired contract, wages

Staff at Cayuga Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have been picketing in front of the building as part of a demand for a new contract. According to Emmanuel White, the union organizer for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, employees have been working without a contract since May 1, when the previous contract expired.

“They’ve been short-staffed since before the pandemic,” White said. “And it has been worse since. We believe if we can get a quality, fair contract with good benefits and wages, we could recruit the staff we need to provide the best care. These residents deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and they deserve quality care.”

White added that management had been “demanding we take cuts to benefits like health insurance, vacation, and all the things these members have gained over the years.” He said they were also currently offering only a “mediocre” wage increase.

“We need decent wages to recruit and retain employees,” he said.

According to White, some employees are not earning a living wage, and the lowest wage earners are being paid minimum wage. He said between the short staffing and low wages, it’s been hard to recruit and retain employees, and current employees are getting burnt out.

Cayuga Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is operated by Shully Braunstein, who also operates nursing homes in Brooklyn, New York, Bronx, New York, Long Island, New York and Rochester, New York. A request for comment from the nursing home administration went unreturned.

Employee Selene Krone, a licensed practical nurse, said it’s been rough for people working there who want to provide good care to residents. According to Krone, she is currently working on a floor with 40 residents and said often there’s only one or two nurses working it.

“There’s a big potential for medication error, it’s endangering to residents,” she said. “The [certified nursing assistants] have to get residents up, get them dressed, get them ready for meals. It’s very hard. They want to make sure everyone is safe and taken care of.”

She said in the behavior and dementia units, short staffing can be dangerous.

“We should have at least six CNAs on day shift and two nurses, one on each med cart. And on the evening shift there should be at least four CNAs and two nurses, and on night shift there should be two CNAs and one nurse,” Krone said.

There are also new staffing laws that will take effect in January that will require a minimum of 3.5 hours of care per resident per day, White said. With the current staffing levels, the center won’t be able to meet that requirement.

“We’ve been using a lot of agency nurses and agency staff CNAs to supplement,” Krone said.

White said that agency staff can come from anywhere and is not as invested as a regular employee may be.

“They may be here tomorrow and another facility next week,” he said. “The continuity of care is constantly changing.”

Krone said she’s also frustrated because those agency workers are often better paid than the regular staff.

“Why can’t they pay those wages to the Cayuga Ridge staff?” Krone said. “They’re the local workers who are there day in and day out.”

White said there has been some progress in the collective bargaining process, but that with such little movement on things like quality wages and benefits, there has been talk of a strike.

“We would never look to strike and hope we can avoid doing things that extreme, but with no movement from management, employees are seriously considering a strike,” he said.

The next step is meeting with a federal mediator at the end of the month to try to find some common ground between the two sides. Krone hopes they can work something out so that both the employees and residents can benefit.

“There’s a lot of good people who work there and deserve to be able to take care of their families and have the help that they need,” she said. “We can’t expect people to work for minimum wage when other places are paying more. And we’re talking about being responsible for people’s lives. I take my job very seriously — I have been an LPN for 28 years. [Residents] are there because they need to be taken care of. They’re not cattle. We need to be there for them, but we can’t be there for them if our owner is not there for us.” -Tanner Harding

Infrastructure TCAT to get $17.8 million in infrastructure deal

TCAT is set to receive $17.8 million in federal funding from the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, TCAT confirmed. A bipartisan infrastructure deal signed by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15, the $1.2 trillion bill was passed by Congress on Nov. 5. Thirteen Republicans crossed party lines to vote for it, including Rep. Tom Reed, who represents Tompkins County. It is the largest single infrastructure investment in American history.

The legislation includes $39 billion of new investment to modernize transit, in addition to continuing the existing transit programs for five years as part of surface transportation reauthorization, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The bill also includes provisions such as $5 billion that will help replace deficient transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles; the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Scot Vanderpool, the general manager of TCAT, his mind immediately went to electric buses when he heard the news.

“Our main objective is to keep the wheels rolling, but more specifically, part of our thought process is electrification,” he said. “We plan to be all electric by 2035.”

TCAT did roll out seven new electric buses earlier this year, but Vanderpool noted they’re expensive at about $1 million a piece.

“In order for us to reach our no-emission goals, we’ll need capital help and this will certainly provide that,” he said.

Vanderpool added that with electrification comes a change in infrastructure and training, and said the funds will help with that too.

“We’ll need charging infrastructure and as far as an operational thing, when you talk about electrification, you have to think about how everything changes,” he said. “Moving toward electrification will not be possible without trained employees. Diesel mechanics will be less valuable in 10 years unless we set up training.”

The transportation industry, in Tompkins County and nationwide, is also facing a shortage of drivers and mechanics.

CLIMATE Kendal seniors aim for climate impact through gardening

Climate change is a current issue that the Ithaca community is constantly trying to battle to better the future of the environment.

Leah Horwitz is a 94-year-old resident at Kendal at Ithaca who is adamant about climate change and wants to help make an impact to improve the environment through taking care of her garden.

Kendal at Ithaca is a senior living community in the on Triphammer Road in Cayuga Heights that provides older adults with extensive residential services and amenities, plus onsite healthcare for life.

Horwitz has a binder titled “Climate Change” where she keeps all her recorded documents she finds important about the climate.

“If we’re not trying to be part of the solution, then we are part of the problem,” Horwitz said.

Horwitz has two great-grandchildren and she worries that if people do not come together to confront climate change, then there will not be a future for her family.

“I’d like their world to be better and it’s going downhill,” Horwitz said. “They live in California, where the air is full of smoke all because of climate change.”

She wanted to start her garden in hopes that more people will turn to gardening, but says her garden alone hardly makes any impact at all.

“I’m hoping that other people will catch on and maybe, they will follow suit,” Horwitz said. “The garden itself is miniscule in its effect. The main hope is that it will inspire other people. In fact, I’m hoping that all of Kendal, I’m hoping it’s part of their five-year plan to get rid of the huge lawn in the middle...and convert it to something that helps rather than hinders climate change.”

Cathy Chymes is an 82-year-old resident who lives at Kendal at Ithaca and she has been working on her garden since she moved in over 17 years ago. She has two strips of gardens that surround her cottage.

“I’ve continued onward and we’ve done very well,” Chymes said. “As long as I can find somebody to help me, I like gardening.”

Chymes said she does not like how the services at Kendal at Ithaca spray pesticides near her garden because it is a direct impact against climate change.

“I’m forever after the maintenance fellas... they’re not allowed to spray within four feet of my garden,” Chymes said.

Cathy Kessler is a part owner at Baker’s Acre which is a business that prides itself on giving professional advice to people interested in gardening. Kessler is in charge of the perennial and herb department and gives consultations to people who want to start gardens of their own.

Kessler gave a consultation to Horwitz at Kendal at Ithaca before she began her garden. When giving a consultation, Kessler goes to the area where someone wants to start a garden and spends about an hour with the person discussing what their vision is for their garden.

“Just getting as much information from them that I can possibly get so I can do what they’re really looking for,” Kessler said.

Kessler offers advice on including native plants as an option for people wanting to begin a garden because they are usually not that invasive.

“I do try to stick with plants that are good for our area and will help our area,” Kessler said. “They’re not taking up a lot of the oxygen in the air and so forth. They’re meant for this area.”

After Kessler gives a consultation, the next step is to purchase the plants from Baker’s Acre and then Kessler will return to where she gave a consultation and place the plants where she thinks will be the best place for them to grow. Horwtiz was inspired to take action and make a positive impact for climate change when she read “Nature’s Best Hope” by Douglas W. Tallamy. “I was feeling very depressed and thinking, ‘What could I do? There’s nothing I can do.’” Horwitz said. “And then I realized there is something I can do. I can become an active participant in trying to makeover the whole of Kendal.” Horwitz takes pictures of her garden and sends them to an email chain that goes to all the residents that live in Kendal at Ithaca. “I think that this is the most important issue of our day,” Horwitz said. “That if we don’t get involved and change the course that we are going on, our children are going to suffer irreparable damage. Our grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren, will certainly suffer.”

Horwitz’s garden recently became certified by The National Wildlife Federation which aims to help inform people of positive impacts of eco-friendly gardening.

“I am very concerned about generations to come,” Horwitz said. “I don’t have much time and energy left to put into it [climate change]. But whatever I have, I feel I must do it to the best of my ability.”

Certified Wildlife Habitat applicants ask that your garden fulfills several requirements. To be certified, your garden must provide food, water, cover, places to raise young, and offer sustainable practices.

To certify your garden, visit https://www.nwf.org/certify. -Sydney Keller

Cathy Chymes’s Garden at Kendal (Photo: Provided) RIP fall. Ups The colors of the leaves seemed to have peaked this past weekend and it was so pretty.

Downs Ithaca College lost the Cortaca Jug game by a single point on Saturday afternoon. Next year’s rematch is at Yankee Stadium!

HEARD&SEEN

Heard Cornell University’s men’s hockey team scored 11 goals defeating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday. Not too shabby.

Seen The first snowfall of the season dusted some of the higher elevations in Tompkins County over the weekend. Gross.

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