PRESORTED STANDARD PERMIT #3036 WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. V No. XXXVII
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
&
Laws Safety
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Nuclear Poison in the Land Page 6
The Road from Nuremberg to Buffalo to Washington, D.C. Page 8
Requiem for the Post Roads Page 10
”Moneyball” and “Toast” Page 11
Sewage Systems on Hen Island Page 16
Iona Planning Committee Appointments Page 20
Village of Bronxville Mayor Mary C. Marvin, Page 18 westchesterguardian.com
World Class Medicine - Unless You Work There! Page 23
Will Clinton Challenge Obama Next Year? Page 26
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THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
Of Significance Community Section....................................................................2 Books.........................................................................................2 Calendar....................................................................................4 Energy Matters.........................................................................6 History......................................................................................8 Ed Koch Movie Reviews........................................................11 Music Review.........................................................................13 The Spoof...............................................................................14 Eye On Theatre......................................................................14 Housing..................................................................................15 Environment...........................................................................16 Government Section................................................................18 Mayor Marvin........................................................................18 Government............................................................................18 Albany Correspondent...........................................................22 Labor.......................................................................................22 Campaign Trail.......................................................................23 OpEd Section............................................................................24 New York Civic.......................................................................25 Weir Only Human.................................................................26 Legal Notices.............................................................................27
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Guardian News Corp. P.O. Box 8 New Rochelle, New York 10801 Sam Zherka , Publisher & President publisher@westchesterguardian.com Hezi Aris, Editor-in-Chief & Vice President whyteditor@gmail.com Advertising: (914) 562-0834 News and Photos: (914) 562-0834 Fax: (914) 633-0806 Published online every Monday Print edition distributed Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Graphic Design: Watterson Studios, Inc. www.wattersonstudios.com
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The Guardian Radio Network NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Guardian Radio Network, WGRN, operated under the auspices of Hezitorial Absurdity, Inc. president Hezi Aris, continues to build its programing day on the Blog TalkRadio platform. In addition to Westchester On the Level with Richard Narog and Hezi Aris, And Nothing But the Truth - Coast to Coast with Frank Vernuccio, Jr. and Larry Allison, and The Conservative Torch with Carmine Torchetti are now to be heard Westchester On The Level with co-hosts Richard Narog and Hezi Aris is heard from Monday to Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon. And Nothing But the Truth – Coast to Coast with Frank Vernuccio, Jr., and Larry L. Allsion is hed on Tuesdays, from 2 – 4 p.m. The Conservative Torch with Carmine Torchetti, Jr. is heard on Thursdays, from 7 – 9 p.m. Listen to our radio programs live by clicking onto the following hyperlink: Westchester on the Level - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel; And Nothing But the Truth – Coast to Coast – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel/ and-nothing-but-the-truth--coast-to-coast; and TheConservativeTorch–http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel/the-conservative-torch. Each show may be heard live or on demand. Choose from an MP3 download option, or peruse our audio archives. Recognizing that we shamelessly solicit your participation, you are invited to participate by calling us toll-free at 1-877-674-2436. All we ask is that you stay on topic with regard to your question and / or your statement. You may elect to direct email for our guests to the editor with a statement or question that may be asked of our guest(s). The email address is WHYTeditor@gmail.com. Statements or comments received by email are incorporated into the airing of the program at the discretion of the editor / radio host(s).
Mission Statement
The Westchester Guardian is a weekly newspaper devoted to the unbiased reporting of events and developments that are newsworthy and significant to readers living in, and/or employed in, Westchester County. The Guardian will strive to report fairly, and objectively, reliable information without favor or compromise. Our first duty will be to the PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO KNOW, by the exposure of truth, without fear or hesitation, no matter where the pursuit may lead, in the finest tradition of FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. The Guardian will cover news and events relevant to residents and businesses all over Westchester County. As a weekly, rather than focusing on the immediacy of delivery more associated with daily journals, we will instead seek to provide the broader, more comprehensive, chronological step-by-step accounting of events, enlightened with analysis, where appropriate. From amongst journalism’s classic key-words: who, what, when, where, why, and how, the why and how will drive our pursuit. We will use our more abundant time, and our resources, to get past the initial ‘spin’ and ‘damage control’ often characteristic of immediate news releases, to reach the very heart of the matter: the truth. We will take our readers to a point of understanding and insight which cannot be obtained elsewhere. To succeed, we must recognize from the outset that bigger is not necessarily better. And, furthermore, we will acknowledge that we cannot be all things to all readers. We must carefully balance the presentation of relevant, hard-hitting, Westchester news and commentary, with features and columns useful in daily living and employment in, and around, the county. We must stay trim and flexible if we are to succeed.
The Westchester Guardian
BOOKS
The Retired (Try To) Strike Back— Chapter 22 – Ethics By ALLAN LUKS “I can’t believe you’re afraid to go ahead. Now, when we’re so close, for you, Steven, to get nervous about our chance to make the world a little better.” Bob, the film’s director, gazes around the seven friends sitting around the table, as he continues. “For more than three years we’ve been working on The Retired Person’s Dating Film. The insurance company sponsors a focus group last week and the participants believe our short video might sell a lot of copies across the country to help lonely seniors meet and also encourage the retired to get much more involved in community leadership. The insurance company has now given us a small grant to help us advertise. Steven, we’re on a roll, what are you afraid of?” They are in the private party room of a restaurant to celebrate the focus group’s results, unlike the rooms in the small diners where they usually meet. Steven rises. “You know I don’t like to stand. And I know your nickname for me is the Social Work Defender. But this is important. To start off doing something that may not be ethical should make us all nervous.” “What’s that?” Kenny asks. He’s a former amateur actor who’d been a high school literature teacher and was telling his friends this morning that he thought their film could actually gain enough attention to lead to a commercial acting offer for him. Now Kenny also stares at Steven. Bob motions the waiter who’s come for their order to leave the room, and Steven watches the departing waiter, as if, being a caring social worker, he is responsible for the waiter’s inability to do his job. Steven still stands, alternately rubbing at his face, elbow, thigh, and his thin gray hair as he speaks. “When I was a social worker, someone wouldn’t have friends because he or she was too shy or too loud. People would fail at job interviews because they were too meek or too assertive. Family relationships would break up because one person was too impatient while another was too understanding, kept listening but never acting. How did we counsel these people? If the new behavior we encouraged was wrong, they’d feel worse, have even more problems. Getting people to make large changes in their lives has to be thought out. So we continually did research
and reviewed studies. “Our film’s conclusions, especially that the newly retired should take on the task of running for public office in large numbers, have no history behind them. We don’t really know if they’ll receive popular support if they run. This, call it our consensus, from a lot of role playing among the eight of us, and interviewing maybe thirty other seniors over time. But there are no studies supporting our conclusion. “We originally were making just a small film so I never said anything. Except now, when our film has grown to nearly an hour and could attract national attention, what if our suggestions are wrong? What if the newly retired who try, never get elected, they’re defeated by huge numbers? The public sort of laughs at their attempts. These seniors could get hurt, depressed, and that could lead to relationship problems. I propose taking some of the new insurance company money and hiring social work researchers to look at our conclusions. Do a major study to check it all out. But that of course can take time.” “Ridiculous,” calls Bob, who starts to rise and Steven begins to sit—but then Bob sits and motions his friend Steven to keep standing. “Steven, Steven,” Bob continues, “When I made TV commercials, we had this phrase called marketing ethics. Don’t make claims for your product unless you’re positive about these benefits. You had to compare them to claims being made for competing products. But where are our competitors, who are revealing a new source of leadership for our country that ‘s slipping in its ability to make change happen?” “Of course,” says Kenny, now smiling. “ Mr. Social Work Defender, when you have a pill that might help so much, when do you just say: Yes, no waiting, it has to be now. Look around. What’s the ethical answer?” Allan Luks is a nationally recognized social works leader and advocate for volunteerism. He is the former head of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of New York and is currently a visiting professor at Fordham University, where he teaches several courses in nonprofit leadership. You can learn more about Allan Luks at http://allanluks.com.
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No Guarantees, One Man’s Road Through the Darkness of Depression Chapter Six – Homeless at Home – The Expiring Lie By BOB MARRONE Several weeks ago, Bob Marrone published a column, A Barbarian at the Gate, dealing with his successful struggle with clinical depression. In it he mentioned that he was in the process of writing a book about his experiences. The piece was met with many requests for more about Bob’s thirty-year battle. To that end, The Westchester Guardian will publish synoptic excerpts of the work in progress each week. The previous chapters were as follows: (1) There Are No Guarantees, (2) Robert Has Two Mommies, (3) Sadness Is Normal, (4) Grandma’s House, and (5) My Peanuts Period. It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon when my foster father John and my uncle Joe showed up at the doorway to the bedroom I shared with my sister (foster) Joanne for the almost seven years of my life. We were playing with our toys with absolutely no idea that anything special was planned, or would happen, that day. “It’s time to go home to your mother, Robert,” announced John. As I write this, sadness still grabs at my stomach when I think about the change those words meant. Of course, now, I cannot tell if the pain comes from what followed and the perspective that
was gained, or the realization that I was about to leave the home and family I loved. Having had the benefit of time, I am reasonably confident that it is both. I did not know at that moment that I would not see my beloved sister for decades, or that I would never see my foster mother again. I did not, could not, appreciate the enormous loss, or betrayal of trust, I was destined to feel, by the very nature of the abrupt, permanent break that would take place that day. Things moved quickly, following the announcement. We hastily gathered my things, only to be held up by my search for a wooden boat that was one of my favorite toys. I did not want to leave without it and we made continued trips to the basement to look for it. We never found it. I find it remarkable that I dreamed about finding that boat for many years thereafter. Another comment about how I felt that day. After years of pining for my real mom and feeling rejected and abandoned, I felt glad that she wanted me, at last. But I was also confused. I was worried that I might not see my family enough…they were foster family, but the only real family I ever really had; and I wondered where I would sleep and how my future siblings at my mother’s house
would accept me? I did not for one moment think that my life as I knew it was over, and that these people whom I loved were to be no more. I figured that somehow, I would keep everybody. Accepting the lies of others in order to survive is as easy as it is insidious. It was to be many years before I fully understood why that day was time to go, why I had been in a foster home or why I never felt at home no matter where I was. So, that Sunday afternoon I knew enough not to ask why it was time or why I was leaving, just like I accepted the story that I had two mothers. Most of all, if I questioned why, I was afraid that no one would want me at all, and that I would make someone angry enough to act on it. Looking back, especially after I entered therapy, I recognized a tacit pattern, begun almost as soon as I was born, of procrastination, denial and avoidance of confronting problems head on. I was subject to it, and as my life went on, I became its greatest practitioner. The great paradox is that this method of avoiding problems became my way of solving them. When the clock runs out, you win or lose based on the score you inherit. When the woman gets upset and leaves, she leaves. When your temperature reaches one hundred and three, you go to the doctors. No
decision, no accountability, no confrontations or stress. And so it was on that Sunday morning that the clock ran out on my young childhood. For my parents… all of them… the unsolved issues were piling up. I was already too old for kindergarten. No one knew who should send me, or where I should go. I was already a little over age for first grade and would have to start in a few weeks. Someone was going to have to sign me up for school. Worse still, my foster mother Mary, as I learned many years later, had fallen I love with me. To her, I was her little boy and she wanted to keep me. She started putting increasingly more pressure on my biological mother to let me stay at 17th. Street. I was her foster son, unofficially, and she wanted to adopt me, make it legal and give me a legitimate identity. So, my mother was forced by circumstances to act…up to a point. A few weeks after my arrival at 24th. Street, I was to learn just how far the masquerade went, as to who I was and how little my Mom prepared for my “repatriation.” It all came to an incomprehensible head no my first day of school, and would serve to cement my adeptness as a self-deceitful liar, and my conviction that I was worthless and guilty of some damnable truth. Listen to Bob Marrone every weekday from 6:00-8:30 am on the Good Morning Westchester with Bob Marrone on WVOX-1460 AM radio.
CALENDAR
“America’s Got Talent” Holding New York Auditions October 8-9
Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to Host Walk to Cure Diabetes
NBC’s top-rated summer series “America’s Got Talent” will be kicking off its nationwide search for Season 7 contestants with auditions in New York City. The “America’s Got Talent” auditions are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for performers across the country to showcase their talents in 90 seconds to series’ producers in the hopes of being able to take the stage in front of the judges. Every type of performer is welcome - including musicians, dance crews, magicians, contortionists, comedians, singers, jugglers, animal acts and everything in between - all of whom want to perform for America’s votes and the coveted $1 million prize. Auditions will be conducted at the Jacob Javits Center, located at
YONKERS, NY -- Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway longtime general manager Bob Galterio’s daughter Cara was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 10, and the Bedford resident was immediately compelled to take action to fight the disease. So, the “Cure for Cara” was born. That was 10 years ago, and on Sunday, October 16, more than 2,500 Empire City employees, volunteers and participants will gather at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, to take action in the Walk to Cure Diabetes for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Galterio will serve as captain of the “Cure for Cara” team. With the help of many volunteers and donors, JDF is moving research from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside, translating scientific advances into longer,
655 West 34th Street, New York, N.Y. 10001, on Saturday, October 8, and Sunday, October 9, with registration from 8 a.m.- 7 p.m Auditions are open to talent of any age; “America’s Got Talent” offers a unique chance for anyone who has dreamed of performing his or her talent on a national stage. Additional cities for auditions currently scheduled include St. Louis, Washington D.C., Tampa, Anaheim, Austin, and Charlotte. For all the latest information and to pre-register, go to www.AGTauditions.com.
healthier lives for those with diabetes, moving closer to our goal...a cure for diabetes and its complications. More than 2,500 walkers representing local corporations, families, schools, and other organizations are expected to participate in the Westchester County Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) annual Walk to Cure Diabetes, on Sunday, October 16, 2011 at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway from 9:00 a.m.12:00 Noon. The fundraising goal for the chapter is to realize more than $690,000 for research to find a cure for diabetes and its complications. “It’s great to be partnering with JDRF and working together on such an important goal – curing a disease that kills one Continued on page 5
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Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway to Host Walk to Cure Diabetes Continued from page 4 American every three minutes. The recent statistics are staggering and reveal that health care expenditures surrounding diabetes cost our nation more than $174 billion,” says Corporate Walk Chair, Bob Galterio, Vice President and General Manager of Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway. These are the reasons we are committed to raising money for the cutting-edge research that JDRF funds. By working together, we can make a difference.” This year the Westchester County Chapter of JDRF will honor The Stagg Family of White Plains, NY, and their walk team, Team Amanda, for all that they have done over the past 7 years. Team Amanda has been participating in the Walk to Cure Diabetes by raising over $264,000 for type 1 diabetes research! “We became involved with JDRF in 2004 because we felt this was an organization dedicated toward funding research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. Our daughter Amanda, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 3 on May 1, 2003. We have had over 100 walkers join Team Amanda each year to show their love and support for her. Our family is so appreciative to be the Honored Family this year, said Theresa Stagg. “We hope all of our efforts will soon find a cure for our courageous daughter Amanda and all of the families affected by type 1 diabetes.”
In addition to wide-spread corporate support, entire families from kids to grandparents take part in the fundraising efforts of the Walk to Cure Diabetes – many affected, but even those who are not among the 14 million Americans with a personal connection to type-1 diabetes. At the walk, there will be games, a scavenger hunt, food and most of all FUN! On-site registration begins at 9:00 a.m. at the entrance of the racetrack. “JDRF is immensely appreciative of Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway’s participation,” said JDRF Executive Director, Rebecca Santoli. “This is corporate citizenship at its finest. The commitment of Bob Galterio and his employees enables us to accelerate research to find a cure for diabetes. Insulin is not a cure, merely life support for the estimated 3 million Americans suffering from type-1 diabetes and its complications. Research is the only answer. JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 diabetes research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. To register now and participate, sponsor the event, build a Walk team, or for more information please visit www.walk.jdrf.org or call the JDRF Westchester County Chapter at 914-686-7700.
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News & Notes from Northern Westchester By MARK JEFFERS Looks like it might be time to pull out your sweaters and jackets, as the weather turns cooler, grab a blanket and snuggle in to read this week’s “News and Notes…” Here’s some news from the good folks at the Community Center of Northern Westchester; the changing of the seasons means it’s time to start providing cold weather clothing to families in need for the chilly months ahead. They are now gratefully accepting gently used warm fall and winter clothing, shoes and linens. Donations are welcome during the Center’s regular hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10-4; Saturday, 10-1. The Pound Ridge Library presents an exhibition of oil paintings, photographs and charcoal drawings by artist Phyllis Smith
through October 22nd. I can cook with charcoal, but not sure about drawing with it… Congratulations to our friends at Hickory & Tweed in Armonk as they celebrate 50 years in business. You know how much I like to eat, so I’m not missing the Hope’s Door annual luncheon dedicated to National Domestic Violence Awareness month, which will be held on October 6th at Crabtree’s Kittle House. There will be a silent auction, a giving tree and great food. Call 914-747-0828 for details. Here’s another tasty tidbit…on Tuesday, October 18th the Bedford Hills Woman’s Club will host its annual luncheon benefiting local high school scholarship programs. The Bedford Hills Woman’s Club was founded Continued on page 6
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News & Notes from Northern Westchester Continued from page 5 in 1926 to “render service throughout the community” and this luncheon and other programs during the year provide much needed support to Bedford Hills’ organizations and families. This luncheon is the major source of funding for scholarships. Lunch, entertainment, and various raffle prizes will be held at noon at the Mount Kisco Country Club, 10 Taylor Road, Mount Kisco, NY. For more information, contact Tina Campbell at 914-441-1383. Calling all Pound Ridge adults and their guests as they are invited to join the Pound Ridge Recreation Department for a behind the scenes trip to Stone Barns Center for
Food and Agriculture on October 6th, contact Louise for details at 914-764-8201. If you are ready for a night filled with laughs then set aside November 19th on your calendar, as funny lady Paula Poundstone hits the stage at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill. And remember Ms. Poundstone’s act is for adults. Gee, I wonder if my wife will let me attend… Now here’s one for the whole family, “Elmo Makes Music,” join the Sesame Street gang at the Westchester County Center on October 22nd for a fun filled day with rubber duckies, cookie jars and maybe even a trash can lid. Call 914-995-4050 for more information.
Being a commuter, I think this is a brilliant idea…Metro-North will be experimenting on “Quiet Cars” on some peak hour trains beginning on October 17th. The last car on some morning rush hour trains and the first car on evening rush hour trains will be set aside for the quieter experience. These cars will be perfect for my naps into the city. The Peekskill Garden Club is looking to plant 10,000 daffodils on a dedicated trail. For those interested in working on this project can join them on October 8th at the Riverfront anytime from 10am to 2pm. Turning to sports: In girls soccer action, North Salem beat Lakeland 3 to 1, on the boys side Somers defeated Ketcham 2 to 1, and in volleyball Greeley got by Westlake 3 to 2.
Let’s talk leaves…beautiful to look at this time of year as they change colors, but then become a pain in our backs when we have to rake them up, better get my children on that duty. Or better yet, join the “Leave Leaves Alone” movement and just mow over those leaves to make a nice mulch for your lawn. It is environmentally friendly and nutritious for your lawn! See you next week… Mark Jeffers successfully spearheaded the launch in 2008 of MAR$AR Sports & Entertainment LLC. As president he has seen rapid growth of the company with the signing of numerous clients. He currently resides in Bedford Hills with his wife Sarah and three girls, Kate, Amanda and Claire.
Turkeys and Time Needed Senator Ball Asks for Donations for First Annual Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner MAHOPAC, NY -- Senator Greg Ball is gearing up for his first-annual 40th District Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner and asking the community for its support. The Senator is hosting a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 600 veterans and their loved ones on November 12th. He’s reaching out to restaurants, grocery stores, caterers and others who would like to donate food or their time to the event.
People who would like to donate food or time to the Veterans Thanksgiving Dinner should contact Erica Massimi at (914) 329-1051 or emassimi@ball4ny.com. The dinner, which will include turkey, all the trimmings, beverages, dessert and live entertainment, is taking place on November 12th at the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department located at 741 US Route 6 in Mahopac, N.Y.
All veterans living in the 40th Senate District are welcomed to attend and bring one guest. Seating is limited. RSVP is required by October 14th.
ENERGY MATTERS
Nuclear Poison in the Land
A Farm Family from Fukushima Loses it All By ROGER WITHERSPOON
Killing the chickens was the worst. For a 53-year-old organic farmer like Sachiko Sato, killing a chicken was not a novel event. “We kill chickens for food. We sell chickens. We raise chickens to eat,” she said. “But this was different. This was too much.” She was sitting in the sparse conference room in the Ossining, NY headquarters of the environmental group Riverkeeper, having lunch and recalling the life-changing events of the past year in her hometown, Fukushima, Japan, as her 13-year-old daughter, Mina, slept in a chair nearby. She is part of a small delegation of Japanese farmers and the country’s best known anti-nuclear activist, Aileen Mioko Smith, who came to the US to talk to anti-nuclear groups and government officials and present a petition to the United Nations
High commission on Human Rights to recognize the danger posed by radiation to children. Earlier in the week Ed Lyman, of the Union of Concerned Scientists ( www.UCSUSA.org ), hosted a meeting between the group and officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Beyond Nuclear ( www.beyondnuclear.org ),the American anti-nuclear group, guided the group around New York and teamed with the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition ( www.Indianpointinfo.org and www. ShutDownIndianPointNow.org ) to bring them to suburban Westchester County Friday to see the area around the Indian Point nuclear power complex and talk with local farmers about the danger such plants posed to their livelihoods. They stopped at Riverkeeper, which has waged a legal fight
to close the plant for nearly a decade, to rest before taking the train back into Manhattan for a meeting at the UN. “When we met with the US officials,” said Mrs. Sato, “they said they would learn
from the lessons of Fukushima. “They talked about the evacuation of Americans within 50 miles of Fukushima. But now that I have been here, I realize that there is no possible Continued on page 7
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THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
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ENERGY MATTERS
Nuclear Poison in the Land Continued from page 6 evacuation plan for people 50 miles around Indian Point.” Such an evacuation would affect 21 million people, including all of northern New Jersey as far as Newark, west past the Delaware Water Gap into Pennsylvania, east to Hartford, Conn., and south encompassing all of New York City. The NRC requires evacuation plans for only 10 miles around the nation’s 104 nuclear power plants.
plant, I would send my children to Yamagata. But that was in 1985.” That accident in the Ukraine made her rethink the role of technology in daily living, and “I decided to learn from the wisdom and skills of the past, so that we could continue life into the next generation even if there were no imports of fossil fuels or nuclear power. That is the way people used to live, greatly valuing the connection between each other and having awe and respect for nature.” She and her husband and their five children converted the homestead into a “natural
The massive, March 11 earthquake and resulting tsunami ravaged the coastline of Japan and killed thousands of people, and destroyed safety systems and power at the huge nuclear complex. It had done little damage to the Sato’s small organic farm, about 60 miles from the coast. But the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were another matter. Two of the six plants in the complex were closed for refueling, but the remaining four were out of control and melted down, giving off hydrogen gas from the reactors and spent fuel pools which exploded and blew their containment buildings apart. These were modern plants, the same make and vintage of boiling water reactors as the Hope Creek and Oyster Creek plants in New Jersey whose licenses were recently extended for 20 more years. The continuing, uncontrolled release of radiation from their Japanese counterparts threatens to overtake Chernobyl as the world’s worst commercial nuclear power accident. “March 11 changed everything,” Mrs. Sato said. “The nuclear accident was particularly difficult to accept because we could not see it.” She had never paid much attention to her city’s nuclear complex. After the Chernobyl accident in 1985, she said, “I talked to a friend in Yamagata, about 100 kilometers away. I had decided if an accident were to ever occur at the Fukushima nuclear power
farm,” growing rice, vegetables and grains, raising and tending some 200 chickens and coking their meals over firewood. They did not use plows or heavy machinery, but worked by hand, the way their ancestors had. Their organic farm became the nucleus of a cooperative organic farming community. “It wasn’t until three years ago that I actually saw Fukushima Daiichi,” she said. “I was at a meeting near the coast, and we had decided that if the weather was nice we would swim in the sea. The weather was rough and the sea was choppy so we did not go for the swim, but that’s when I saw the power plant. “I had never seen anything like it. I wondered how you can live with this power plant. The discharge from the plant was hot water that was harming the fish.” The once-through cooling system used by many nuclear plants sucks in billions of gallons of water daily, runs it through heat exchangers, and dumps the heated water back into the waterway. In the process, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection estimates that some 9 billion juvenile and mature fish are killed by the Salem and Oyster Creek power plants, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation puts the figure for Indian Point on the Hudson River at about 2 billion juvenile and mature fish. The process is far more devastating, however, to the newly hatched fish, which are under a half inch in diameter
and are captives of the smallest currents. According to the National marine Fisheries Service, Indian point alone kills some 300 billion of these baby fish and “the numbers for Salem and Oyster Creek are similar.” But fishing wasn’t Mrs. Sato’s issue. Raising her kids and managing the family farm were full time jobs. Besides, she had a safety out if a real accident ever occurred. Until March 11, she said she never gave the nuclear power plant another thought. The reactors at Fukushima Daiichi began melting down within hours of the earthquake. The ensuing explosions from reactors 1 through 4 blew off both the roofs of the buildings and the years of assurances that Chernobyl-type meltdowns were impossible. The Japanese government was continually reassuring the public that they were safe and there was little danger from radiation but, simultaneously, it raised the
maximum amount of permissible radioactive contamination in water, food and air. The government’s guidelines made no distinction between what was safe for infants, children, and adults. She called her friend in Yamagata and said, simply, “The fateful day has arrived.” It was hard on the kids. “My father built our house 20 years ago,” said Mina. “I had never had my own room. The house was being renovated from February, and my room was in the middle of being built. I had to leave our home before the room was completed. “I was looking forward to it.” As she put her children on the train, she said “brace yourselves against the fact that you won’t be able to go back to Fukushma for quite some time.” Continued on page 8
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ENERGY MATTERS
Nuclear Poison in the Land Continued from page 7 Sending them away was not a difficult decision, she said: protecting your children is what a parent is supposed to do. “I took soil samples and on March 31 sent them to a French company for an analysis,”
She warned her neighbors, but many were reluctant to accept that their livelihoods had been upended. “Many were growing food and taking it to the market,” she said. “Since the government kept raising the limit, they said they were legally allowed to sell it. “There is a standard for imported food which the government put into place after Chernobyl
she said. “I got the results back two weeks later. The government was saying that the limit of allowable cesium in soil was 5,000 Becquerels per kilogram. But the analysis showed it was over 6,000 Becquerels and I decided not to grow anything this year. My land was poisoned.”
of 370 Becquerels,” she said. “But the provincial government set the standard for food in Fukushima at 500 on the assumption that only a tenth of the radiation in the ground could go into the food. They had no scientific basis for that. They just decided it. “People around me are selling it and
feeding it to their children. Almost nobody is taking measurements. But I wouldn’t do that.” She decided to take measurements of the soil at the schools attended by her 13-yearold daughter, Mina, and her 17-year-old son, Yuuki and found that the soil around the schools was heavily contaminated as well. She and other parents petitioned the local government to measure the soil around all the region’s schools, “and then the national government issued new standards April 19 raising the limit for exposure to 20 times what it had been before. The Japanese government has not protected the lives of our children.” Back home, she and her husband systematically began dismantling the crops and petitioning the government for help in decontaminating the soil. Watching her farm go to waste was a pragmatic decision: painful, but necessary. Just like sending the children away. “It is an issue that has divided our community,” she said. “Some do not want to believe everything has changed. They want to go on as before. It has torn our hearts. There is a rift in the human relationships between
those who chose to believe it is not safe and we must evacuate the children and those who chose to believe it is safe and to stay. There are still 300,000 children in Fukushima. “We were one community, but now we are torn apart.” The chickens were different. They couldn’t be bulldozed away, or left to grow wild like free range rice. They had to be killed. She and her husband walked into the hen house, carrying the wire garrotes to quickly, efficiently, strangle them. “They weren’t pets,” she said, softly. “I had gone in there many times to single one out and kill it for food. This was different.” They were there, some cackling, some walking, and some sitting on their eggs as her husband began methodically killing them, one by one. “I watched him,” she said, “and then I couldn’t bear it any more. I left, and he finished it alone.” Roger Witherspoon writes Energy Matters at www.Rogerwitherspoon.com.
history
The Road from Nuremberg to Buffalo and Washington, D.C. By JOHN Q. BARRETT Sixty-five years ago, on the evening of September 30, 1946, Justice Robert H. Jackson spent his final night in Nuremberg, in the United States occupation zone of what had been Nazi Germany. As U.S. Chief of Counsel since May 1945, he had negotiated with Allies the creation of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), supervised the gathering and analysis of voluminous evidence, approved criminal charges against twenty-four Nazi leaders and six Nazi organizations and, in November 1945, opened history’s first international prosecution for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
During the next eight months, Justice Jackson worked in Nuremberg as a trial prosecutor and administrator and throughout Europe as a leading government official and diplomat. Jackson’s active work in Nuremberg concluded when he delivered his closing argument to the IMT on July 26, 1946. Five days later, he left Nuremberg temporarily, returning to the U.S. and Supreme Court work while part of his team remained in Nuremberg to present evidence against the indicted organizations and to sum up those cases, and then while the IMT judges deliberated and wrote their judgment. Jackson landed in Washington on August 2, 1946. He remained there, living back in his
home and working at the Supreme Court, until September 18. He then flew back to Europe, accompanied by some of his friends— Charles Horsky, Robert Storey, Francis Shea and Father Edmund Walsh, S.J.—who had been senior members of his U.S. prosecution team at earlier points. They were going back to Nuremberg to witness the IMT judgment, which was scheduled to be handed down on September 23. After refueling stops in Goose Bay, Labrador, and in Iceland, they landed in Paris on September 20. They learned then that the IMT had announced that its judgment would not be announced until September 30. Justice Jackson, who had missed the previous Supreme Court term (a full year
of Court work), was determined to be back on the bench when the new term began on October 7, 1946, the first Monday in October. The IMT’s unexpected delay meant that Jackson would have almost no leeway in his travel schedule. He also, since leaving Nuremberg at the end of July, no longer had a requisitioned residence there—“his” house had passed to others. So Jackson stayed in Paris. He worked on drafting his final report to President Truman. He wrote and sent memoranda and cables, including back to the War Department about Nuremberg trial matters. He also worked, it seems, on a speech that he had agreed to deliver, long before he knew how squeezed his schedule would become, at the University of Buffalo on October 4. Jackson flew to Nuremberg a few days later, but he then was called back to Paris by his friend and former Supreme Court colleague James F. Byrnes, who then was U.S. Secretary of State. They discussed many matters. Some related to Germany and the Nuremberg trial. Others concerned the Supreme Court. One was Byrnes’s support for Jackson becoming U.S. Ambassador in London if, as some press reports then had it, Jackson wanted that job. (He made clear to Byrnes that he did not.) On one afternoon, Byrnes added Jackson to the U.S. delegation at the peace conference that was ongoing at the Quai D’Orsay. Having experienced months of nearly simultaneous four-language translation during the Continued on page 9
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
Page 9
history
The Road from Nuremberg to Buffalo and Washington, D.C. Continued from page 8 Nuremberg trial, Jackson reported that in Paris it was “terribly dull to listen to interpretations into 3 other languages, 1 by 1 after [each] speaker finished. Awful.” On Saturday, September 28, Jackson and guests flew back to Nuremberg. His weekend was filled with meetings and social activities. Many of his guests and travelling companions found extremely comfortable, indeed fancy, quarters. Having lost his house, Jackson, his son, his secretary and his nephew bunked in servants’ quarters on the top floor of a German mansion. (Jackson’s nephew, a private serving occupation duty in the U.S. Army, had been ordered to Nuremberg by General Lucius Clay, acting on a request from the young man’s “Uncle Bob” who wanted him to get to see history.) On Monday, September 30, 1946, the IMT judges began to read their lengthy Judgment. (For its text, click here.) The IMT affirmed the validity, in international law, of each crime charged in the indictment. That afternoon, the court returned its verdicts— some convictions, some acquittals—on the indicted organizations. That night, Jackson hosted a dinner and then retired to his room
under the eaves. On Tuesday, October 1, 1946, the IMT delivered its verdicts on the twenty-two individual defendants. Nineteen were found guilty and three were found not guilty. Of the nineteen, seven were sentenced to terms of imprisonment and twelve were sentenced to death by hanging. Immediately after the IMT adjourned, Justice Jackson issued a written statement. He said that he was gratified that the Tribunal had sustained and applied the principle that aggressive war is a crime for which statesmen may individually be punished. He said that he had not had time to study other aspects of the intricate opinion. He expressed regret that the Tribunal had acquitted two defendants, Hjalmar Schacht and Franz von Papen, and that it had declined to declare the criminality of the General Staff, admitting that “[o]ur argument for their conviction … seemed so convincing to all of us prosecutors” and saying they would have to study the effect of those acquittals on further prosecutions of industrialists and militarists. Jackson’s statement closed with a reflective, long view: I personally regard the conviction or
sentence of individuals as of secondary importance compared with the significance of the commitment by the four [Allied] nations to the position that wars of aggression are criminal and that persecution of conquered minorities on racial, religious or political grounds is likewise criminal. These principles of law will influence future events long after the fate of particular individuals is forgotten. At 5:30 p.m. that same day, Jackson left Nuremberg (and never returned). His plane made stops in Paris, the Azores and Stephenville, Newfoundland. Before the next day, October 2, was done, he was back in Washington. The next day, he was back in his Supreme Court chambers. He found “an awful pile of work that had accumulated in [his] absence.” The new Supreme Court term was four days hence. Jackson, originally a western New York lawyer, had accepted an invitation from friends and legal profession leaders in the leading American city where he once had lived and practiced law, and from a leading university that he revered. So on Thursday, October 3, 1946, after a work day at the Supreme Court and then a judicial dinner at a Washington hotel, Jackson boarded a night train at Union Station and travelled to Buffalo, New York. Next Tuesday, October 4, 2011, marks the
65th anniversary of Justice Robert H. Jackson’s address—his first following, by only three days, his departure from Nuremberg—at the closing ceremony at the University of Buffalo centennial convocation. On this October 4th, the James McCormick Mitchell Lectures at the University at Buffalo Law School will commemorate Jackson’s address. The lecturers will be: · John Q. Barrett (St. John’s University), “Bringing Nuremberg Home: Justice Jackson’s Path Back to Buffalo, October 4, 1946”; · Eric L. Muller (University of North Carolina), “Nazis, Americans, and the Law as a ‘Peace Profession’”; and · Mary L. Dudziak (University of Southern California), “Rumors of War.” To read Justice Robert H. Jackson’s notable October 4, 1946, address, which focused on Nuremberg, click here: http://law.buffalo.edu/ News_And_Events/default. asp?filename=mitchell11-Jackson. Jackson left Buffalo for Washington on the October 4, 1946, night train. He was on the bench when the new Supreme Court term commenced three days later. Professor John Q. Barrett teaches at the St. John’s University School of Law. Learn more by visiting his Homepage.
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The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
HISTORY
Those Were the Days. 2 Requiem for the Post Roads By ROBERT SCOTT Look about you. You won’t have to go very far from your dooryard to find them. Post roads are everywhere, unnoticed reminders of the past. They began as Indian paths. Improved as horse trails for use by post riders, they were later widened to accommodate wagons and stagecoaches. Eventually, dirt roads became all-weather roads, often financed with the proceeds of lotteries. Post roads were the sinews that linked the original thirteen colonies. After independence, they helped to bind the states and territories together. Except in the dead of winter, a post rider would leave New York once a week, following the Boston Post Road through New Haven to Saybrook, where he exchanged mailbags with the Boston rider, who had come down via Providence, Stonington and New London. In 1785, the first stagecoach to Boston--little more than a horse-drawn wagon--began operating. Designation of a road as a post road was highly desirable, for it brought coveted postal service to the burgeoning communities along its route. In 1792, when the young nation’s first postal law was enacted, less than 6,000 miles of post roads existed and only 195 post offices. The original City Hall on Wall Street marked the official starting point from which all post road distances and milestones were
measured. Stagecoaches would drive north through the sparsely settled farm country of Manhattan until they reached the King’s Bridge at the northern tip of the island. After crossing Spuyten Duyvil Creek and entering what was then Westchester but is now the Bronx, the post road split into two roads. Westchester’s Two Major Post Roads In 1664, King Charles II requested that a post road be built from Boston to newly conquered New Amsterdam. Called the King’s Highway, it proceeded east from the King’s Bridge through West Farms to Eastchester and northeast to New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Rye, Port Chester (then called the Saw Pits) and into Connecticut. The Boston Post Road largely followed what is now Route 1 to New Haven, where travelers had a choice of three separate routes to Boston. Designated a post road in 1669 and named the Queen’s Highway for Queen Anne, the Albany Post Road continued on from the King’s Bridge through Yonkers and a succession of quiet Hudson River hamlets: Dobbs Ferry, Irvington (then called Dearman), Tarrytown, Sparta, Sing Sing, and Collabaugh Landing (Croton) to Peekskill and thence inland to Fishkill and beyond. The Albany Post Road is essentially today’s Route 9. After the Revolution, finding their financial resources inadequate to meet growing needs, the newly formed states chartered turnpike companies to build roads with private capital and collect tolls. By 1821, New York could boast of some 4,000 miles of such improved roads.
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wives. The turnpike era lasted about 30 years. Few turnpikes showed a profit, largely because of high maintenance costs. At best, even in times of peak travel they paid investors small dividends. Competition, first from canals and later from railroads, hastened their demise. Most turnpikes were eventually surrendered to the state and dedicated as public roads. By the 1830’s, stage lines were carrying the mail over more than seventeen million miles of post roads annually. One stipulation in every mail stage contract was that space be provided for seven passengers. Early Postal Practices No account of post roads would be complete without mention of the hectic state of early mail service. In the 18th century, postage was paid by the recipient. The first turnpike company in Westchester Letters were written on one or more was operated by the Westchester Turnpike sheets of paper, then elaborately folded Company, organized in 1800 to build a road and sealed, either with hot sealing wax or a from East Chester to the Byram River. In paper wafer. The address was written on the 1806, the Highland Turnpike Company was outside. Envelopes would not be introduced incorporated “for the purpose of making a from France until the mid-19th century. good and sufficient road” from the King’s Exorbitantly high letter postage rates Bridge to the city of Hudson. persisted, even though the means of transport Specifications for turnpikes were had improved and expenses had been reduced. remarkably detailed. For example, turnpike From 1816 to 1845, it cost 18 and a half cents operators were required to erect milestones at to send a letter from Manhattan to Troy, north intervals. Toll gates could be no closer than of Albany--but only 12 and a half cents to ship every ten miles. The bridge over the Croton a barrel of flour the same distance. River was to be “at least 24 feet in width, with Prepayment of postage was a complidraw gates not less than 18 feet in width to cated system based on the number of sheets allow the passage of vessels.” in a letter and the distance traveled. Posting In their heyday, turnpikes were scenes of a letter became a slow and exasperating lively activity. Typical toll-paying customers process. Each letter mailed was inspected by included stagecoaches transporting travthe local postmaster for unlawful enclosures elers and mail, emigrants moving west with and to discover whether it had been carried their household goods in covered wagons, part way by someone to defraud the Post wagoners driving heavily laden freight Office. A romantic billet-doux containing a wagons with broad-rimmed wheels hauled pressed violet was a “double letter,” charged by six- and eight-horse teams, drovers at twice the single rate. A single-sheet letter herding cattle, sheep or pigs to market, and enclosing two small newspaper clippings was Yankee peddlers with their light wagons subject to triple postage. filled with needles, buttons Mailing a letter became tedious and and thread to delight farm time-consuming. Most letter writers let the recipient pay the postage, leading to many abuses. When opened, some letters turned out to be of little interest or someone’s idea of an expensive prank. Evasion of postage was rife, extending through every stratum of society, business and the professions. Letters became a convenience only for the wealthy--and even they avoided paying postage whenever they could. Continued on page 11
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
Page 11
HISTORY
Those Were the Days. 2 Requiem for the Post Roads Continued from page 10 Elaborate codes were developed for writing messages on the outside of the folded sheets of paper, usually as variations in the return address. After reading and deciphering the coded message, recipients would refuse the letter, thus avoiding payment of postage. Another onerous curse of the mail service was “franking.” the privilege afforded members of Congress, postmasters and government officials of applying their signatures to letters instead of postage. Many were not above using rubber stamps (or “facsimiles,” as they were called) to reproduce a signature. These devices were so frequently copied, lent, handed out to friends and constituents, or even stolen that soon thousands of unauthorized persons were using them to frank their mail. The Post Office Act of 1792 had set the postage rate on a one-page letter going 100 miles at 12 cents. Paradoxically, it allowed a bulky newspaper to go the same distance for one cent. For one and a half cents, a newspaper could be sent any distance. The postage on a one-page letter going more than 400 miles was 25 cents.
Not surprisingly, senders took advantage of the lower rates for mailing newspapers to convey messages secretly. One method was to mark selected words with underlining in pencil or with pinholes through them. Those who had devised no code system or who had no access to franks or who were too poor even to buy a newspaper to mark with hidden messages were literally cut off from correspondence. To avoid paying exorbitant postal rates, friends leaving on a trip were often asked to carry and deliver letters and parcels. Some travelers and stage drivers made illicit lettercarrying a regular business. Private express services soon sprang up to carry packages and mail, circumventing the Post Office. In fact, as many letters were regularly being carried outside the system as in it. The introduction of standardized rates and postage stamps in Britain in 1840 aroused great interest in the U.S. Adhesive stamps were introduced here in 1847 in two denominations: five cents (Benjamin Franklin) for a letter weighing less than one ounce traveling less than 300 miles, and ten cents (George Washington) for a similar
MOVIE REVIEW
Ed Koch Movie Reviews By Edward I. Koch
Movie Review: “Moneyball” (+)
This is a sensationally good and interesting film even for those who have no interest in baseball. For those engrossed in the sport, it is much more than that: it is a dream come true. The diehards will love the statistics and learning about the ins and outs of putting a Major League Baseball team together. The movie is based on a nonfiction book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis. The screenplay was written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. (Sorkin also wrote the television series The West Wing and a host of other award-winning shows.) Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is general manager of the Oakland Athletics, a mediocre team in the western division of the American League. They can’t afford to buy talented players like The New York Yankees, a franchise with a much larger fan base and budget. Billy is shown in a flashback as a gifted high school player deciding whether to go into professional baseball or to Stanford. He is talked into baseball but
his skills don’t live up to expectations. Billy ends up as general manager of a broken down Oakland A’s team desperately trying to rebuild it after three star players have left for higher salaries from other teams. Billy’s assistant general manager, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), introduces him to a new way of building a team. Peter uses statistics to put together a team of players who might not be hired on their individual strengths, but working together could produce a winning Continued on page 12
letter traveling more than 300 miles. These rates were later reduced. By 1885, the basic rate was down to two cents.
Competition for Mail Contracts Meanwhile, a new competitor to post roads had appeared: steamboats, which carried letters for the first time in 1813. Ten years later, Congress declared the navigable rivers of the country to be post roads. Wherever steamboat and stagecoach routes were in competition, steam vessels won mail contracts and took mail as well as passengers away from the stage lines. In 1838, although railroads were still comparatively rare, Congress declared all existing and future railroads to be post roads. The postmaster general was authorized to
pay as much as 25 percent more for transporting the mails by rail than was paid to stagecoach operators. Beginning in 1848, the New York & New Haven Railroad carried passengers and freight on tracks virtually paralleling the Boston Post Road. Similarly, Commodore Vanderbilt’s Hudson River Rail Road, laying tracks along the east bank of the Hudson, reached Poughkeepsie in 1849 and Albany two years later. Thereafter, Westchester’s post roads would carry only local traffic and the few stubborn, die-hard passengers who feared that the boilers of the new-fangled railroad locomotives would explode. Today, buried under layers of macadam and concrete, traces of original post roads have all but disappeared. Except for a 6.6-mile section of dirt road near Philippstown in Putnam County, post roads were never formally designated as historic sites. They persist only as remnant names on road signs, their paths marked by the few weathered milestones that have survived the ravages of time. Robert Scott is a semi-retired book publisher and local historian.
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THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
MOVIE REVIEW
Movie Review: “Moneyball” (+) Continued from page 11 team. The field manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), doesn’t believe in the new system and puts better-known players on the field which frustrates Billy’s efforts. The acting and dialogue in this sizzling picture are brilliant. It also includes wonderful scenes of Billy and his adolescent daughter, Casey (Kerris Dorsey). Billy is divorced from
Movie Review: “Toast” (+)
In the midst of the film, the Oakland Athletics, who earlier in the 2002 season had been in last place, put together a winning streak, the longest in major league history. I thought that was fiction until I looked it up. It’s true. William Lamar Beane III, the general manager known as Billy, latches on to a fat nerd working for the Cleveland Indians, who majored in economics at Yale. This character is fictional, but is based on a real person. Together
the pair use statistics to predict performance, rejecting classic intuition as obsolete and untrustworthy. Beane never won a World Series for the Athletics, but he sure changed baseball. I am particularly proud that the producer of “Moneyball” is Rachael Horovitz, a Parks alumna whom I hired. Our other park connection in Hollywood is screenwriter Matt Holloway, “Iron Man,” twin brother of New York City’s new Deputy Mayor for Operations.
as a teenager, is played by Freddie Highmore. One sensitive scene involves the teenager meeting a homosexual dancer who sensually kisses him and wakens his sexual desire. They never meet again. There are no follow-up scenes. The story is apparently true, based on the life of Nigel Slater who grows up to be a television personality and food writer. The acting is excellent, but I found the dialect often difficult to understand, particularly when children were chattering in a schoolyard. “Toast” is feather light and quickly forgotten but also very entertaining.
There were no more than 18 people in the theater at the showing I attended on opening night. Moviegoers were probably watching “Moneyball,” which I saw the following night. Henry Stern said: “Toast” is a coming of age story about a sensitive British lad whose mother dies when he is young. Although mother is helpless in the kitchen, the boy loves to prepare food. In school he elects home economics over woodworking, which all the other boys take.
Midway in the film another actor takes the role and Nigel grows five years. A fine job of casting makes teenage Nigel the image of himself as a boy. His snobbery and delicacy remain part of his personality. He hates his frowsy stepmother and shows it by cruelty. The father is heavy and thick-necked, well meaning but unable to deal with his son, his polar opposite. The film itself is very well done. Young Nigel is handsome and the older Nigel is a dreamboat. No acne here. The Midlands accents were too thick to fully understand, but you get the drift. The film reminded me of “Tea and Sympathy” (1956), except that 55 years ago, the hero had to end up straight.” Watch Ed Koch’s Movie Reviews at www. MayorKoch.com.
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA DEZSÖ
The title derives from the one food that the mother of nine-year-old Nigel (Oscar Kennedy) can make even though it is usually burnt. Nigel loves his mother (Victoria Hamilton) and dislikes his father (Ken Stott). The middle-class family lives in the British Midlands. Nigel has high standards and is somewhat snobbish. After his mother dies, he becomes incensed with the lower-class woman his father hires as their housekeeper, Joan (Helena Bonham Carter). Joan, who lives in public housing, which in England is referred to as estate housing, eventually marries his dad. The role of Nigel later entering the film
Casey’s mother, Sharon (Robin Wright). Missing this film would be an error. Henry Stern said: Baseball plus Brad Pitt should make a success out of any film and “Moneyball” is no exception. Pitt doesn’t look the way he did in 1991 in “Thelma and Louise,” his breakout film, but who does? This movie is exciting, fast paced and seems realistic, but who knows what goes on behind closed doors when club executives meet and argue over players?
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The Westchester Guardian
MUSIC
THE SOUNDS OFBLUE
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
Page 13
Yorktown Jewelers WHERE QUALITY AND HONESTY COUNTS
By Bob Putignano
EG Kight “Lip Service” VizzTone www.EGKight.com Vocally potent, a stellar band, with excellent studio production equals a 9 rating. What do you get when someone assembles musicians like; Randall Bramblett (Sea Level, Bonnie Raitt, and many others,) Tommy Talton (Cowboy,) veteran session drummer Bill Stewart, and a top shelf female vocalist EG Kight? A very strong recording! Producer Paul Hornsby (no slouch himself on various keyboards) worked with the Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels, The Hour Glass with Duane and Gregg Allman, Bonnie Bramlett, Bobby Whitlock, Wet Willie, Eddie’s Hinton & Kirkland, Irma Thomas, and previous Kight albums has structured one heck of an recording. As you would expect there’s that southern rock groove, yet Kight stamps her own signature vocals and contributes songwriting (and co-authored) credits on eleven of the twelve songs, except for Hornsby’s “It’s Gonna Rain All Night.” The southern groove is clearly apparent on the humorous “Sugar Daddies” who sound like they are cutting back on their expenditures for their southern belles. A punching horn section funks up “I’m In It To Win It,” where Marcus Henderson fires mightily on alto, plus there’s a very clever horn ending. The title track is a rocker with impressive B3 from producer Hornsby, and tasty piano by the very talented Bramblett. “Savannah” is a simmering ballad that has a bit of a jazzy feel as co-author Gil Gillis triples on guitar, piano and percussion. The horn section returns on ”Koko’s Song” an obvious tribute to the great Koko Taylor, I’m certain Koko would have approved, both musically and with the appropriate lyrics that include Wang Dang Doodle, Let the Good Times Roll, with statements saying Taylor will always be the Queen of the Blues and so forth. Note: Kight dedicates this fine recording to Koko. John Nemeth guests on “Somewhere Down Deep” and nails it alongside Kight, it’s incredibly soulful as these two really meld extremely well together. Checkout the Brothers/Dickey Betts riffs on “I Can’t Turn Him Off ” courtesy of Tommy
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Talton’s guitar. Hornsby’s “It’s Gonna Rain All Night” is gorgeous, Kight feels right at home on this late-night smokey barroom feeling tune; Hornsby doubles on B3 and piano and really sets the backdrop for this (no guitar) beauty. Kight’s “Goodbye” sounds a bit like the Allman’s with horns, it’s funky and gritty too with (this time) Bramblett percolating on the B3. “Married Man” continues in the Capricorn Records zone on this haunting ballad that also features some slick wah-wah from Tommy Talton’s guitar. Closing this disc is Kight, Joanna Cotton and Johnny Neel’s (Neel also worked with the Allman’s,) “I’m Happy Wih the One I Got Now,” a tune that I’m sure Bonnie Raitt would easily slip into, but there’s no taking away from Kight’s vocal prowess here on this the most bluesy tune included. The lyrics are pretty sultry and humorous. “Lip Service” is Kight’s seventh album. At just forty-five the future continues to look bright for this classy southern lassie. Kight vocally impresses from end to end, and (with the help of Paul Hornsby) both know how to assemble a stellar band, plus there’s above par songwriting that is potent. What’s not to like here? Nothing! Bob Putignano http://www. SoundsofBlue.com is a contributing editor to BluesWax, The Westchester Guardian, and the Yonkers Tribune.
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The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
THE SPOOF
Why Bill Clinton Turned Down Dancing With The Stars By GAIL FARRELLY Here’s the INSIDE scoop, not what the former president told the media -- that he was too busy. Yeah, right! Apparently Clinton was ticked off when DWTS producers nixed his plan to do a cha-cha to “Hail to the Chief.” When Clinton protested that this was not
presidential treatment, he was told to put a sock in it, that he was merely a former president. Ouch! Possible plans for a new feature (contestants to dance with some invited guests on the show) completely turned Clinton off. Especially when he heard that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and well-known feminist lawyer Gloria Allred
were being considered as invited guest partners. Both choices caused Clinton to quake in his boots, his dancing boots. As he indicated to friends, “According to Forbes Magazine, that Merkel dame is the most powerful woman in the world. I wouldn’t have a chance to take the lead on the dance floor. She’d be leading me around by the nose.” As for Gloria Allred, Clinton pointed out that she sues just about every man in sight. Poor Bill fessed up to his
fear: “She’d sue the pants off me if I happened to step on her feet once or twice on the dance floor. I couldn’t risk it. No thanks.” DWTS producers are moving on to other choices and are fairly confident that they can snag other famous folks in the world of U.S. politics. President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Ron Paul are front runners for guest slots. Learn more about The Farrelly Sisters - Authors online.
EYE ON THEATRE
Autobiography, Good and Bad By John Simon I hope the world is beginning to realize that the late Lanford Wilson was— is—a major playwright, and that his talents vastly exceed the two or three best-known efforts. So it is that the Keen Company is to be congratulated for reviving his 1970 play, “Lemon Sky.” This relatively early work concerns how Alan (read Lanford), at age 17, left his good mother in Omaha to join his father, Douglas, who abandoned them when Alan was five to live with Ronnie--his mistress, now wife-in San Diego. Alan, now 30, narrates, but periodically steps back into the action as he recalls it, although there are scenes he did not actually witness. Living with Doug and Ronnie are their children, Jerry, 11, and Jack, 6, as well as two teen-age foster daughters, the scholarly and abstracted Penny, and the promiscuous Carol, now bent on luring a young heir into marriage. Ronnie is an admirable woman, coping with such things as Doug’s nocturnal work at an aeronautics factory as well as his avocation, photography, shooting scantily clad or unclad girls with whom he tends to carry on. The conflict between father and son is based, first, on the boy’s frequent absences from work at the same factory, which Alan wanted as temporary, to leave more time for his college work, but which his father forcibly made full-time—absences, by the way, that many of the other workers and even some of the overseers frequently indulge in. Later, what infuriates Doug is Alan’s abstention from frequenting girls, by way of incipient homosexuality that the boy tries unsuccessfully to disguise. Finally, however, it is Doug’s groping of Penny, and something I mustn’t reveal involving Carol,
that precipitate the climax and denouement. Along the way, there is much else: Alan’s comments on California lifestyles, movies and radio shows; descriptions of the picturesque landscape, featuring surrounding mountains; unsuccessful picnics; relations with the young girls and younger boys; and much crackling dialogue. Also fine imagery, as when Alan notes that, after a mountain fire, “the white negative of the brush” stood high, “like ashes on a cigarette,” until “you touched it and it disintegrated.” Both Keith Nobbs, as Alan, and Kevin Kilner, as Doug, give commanding performances, with the others, notably Kellie Overbey as Ronnie, not far behind under Jonathan Silverstein’s mostly satisfactory direction and within a simple but adequate production. “Lemon Sky” is a fine play about the problems of coming of age against a partly dysfunctional background, made tougher by the boy’s references to how his mother was treated by Doug, and Doug’s constant angry denials of wrongdoings past and present. Throughout all this, Wilson’s sense of humor and sense of guilt, Alan’s generous empathy and shaky self-control, progress simultaneously and dramatically, making this a play one can more than enjoy—actually learn from.
Jeff Talbott’s “The Submission,” a likewise autobiographical piece, circles around an interesting idea, but suffers from extraordinarily self-indulgent writing in which loutish contemporary parlance is reproduced in stultifying detail, making long stretches as exciting as relentless running in place. We have here Danny, a young playwright whose fifth dramatic attempt is accepted by the prestigious Humana Festival, albeit under false pretenses. Since it deals with blacks and crack—though we never get to see or hear any of it despite repeated assertions of its high quality—Danny has ascribed its authorship to an imaginary black woman. This writer is to be played in life, along with a role in the play, by a young black actress, Emilie, who, somewhat improbably, is never found out until the end under rather peculiar circumstances. Danny shares an apartment with Pete, his nontheatrical lover, and spends much of his time at various branches of a popular food chain, supposed to be similar yet different, creating a bit of a design problem. There, as well as at home, he fraternizes with Trevor,
an actor who does nothing very actorish, and functions mostly as what he becomes, Emilie’s lover. Now one of the play’s main concerns surfaces: it is, over the period of a year, a debate between Danny and Emilie about which is a greater hardship: growing up as a white homosexual or as a black actress. Since the time is the present, such ghettoizing hardly applies to either group, and seems now less than compelling. Add to this some unexplained details, and all that tiresome repetition, as in the future director of Danny’s play not wanting “an inkling of impropriety.” There ensues: “TREVOR: Inkling? EMILIE: Inkling. TREVOR: He said inkling? EMILIE He said inkling. TREVOR: Say it again. EMILIE: Inkling. TREVOR: Inkling. EMILIE: Ink—DANNY: Um, hello? EMILIE: Sorry. TREVOR: Sorry. [Beat] Inkling.” Naturalism rampant. Possibly worse yet is the prevalent profanity. The f-word in various permutations appears on almost every page at least singly, often multiply. Moreover, one wonders whether a playwright, however young, would speak the jargon of reiterated “like”s, “I mean”s and “you know”s to such deadening effect. The play even ends with Danny alone, exclaiming the f-word twice, and nothing else. Continued on page 15
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EYE ON THEATRE Autobiography, Good and Bad Continued from page 14 The acting is good enough from Jonathan Groff (Danny), Will Rogers (Trevor), Eddie Kaye Thomas (Pete) and Rutina Wesley (Emilie). Walter Bobbie’s direction and the various production values are apt. But, finally, the pseudonymous and
eponymous submission of a manuscript is much less absorbing than the tedious submission exacted from the audience. “Play It Cool” may only play at being cool, but there are moments when, in its warmedover way, it goes down easily enough. Photos by and courtesy of Richard Termine. John Simon has written for over 50 years on
HOUSING
Monarch at Ridge Hill Announces a New Advertising Campaign for Fall Season
theatre, film, literature, music and fine arts for the Hudson Review, New Leader, New Criterion, National Review,New York Magazine, Opera News, Weekly Standard, Broadway.com and Bloomberg News. He reviews books for the New York Times Book Review andWashington Post. He has written profiles for Vogue, Town and Country, Departures and Connoisseur and
produced 17 books of collected writings. Mr. Simon holds a PhD from Harvard University in Comparative Literature and has taught at MIT, Harvard University, Bard College and Marymount Manhattan College. To learn more, visit the JohnSimonUncensored.com website.
TICKET PRICES INCLUDE A COMPLETE MEAL & SHOW
Sleek New Ad Campaign Showcases Idea of “Long Live Excess” Yonkers, NY -- Monarch at Ridge Hill, Yonkers’ groundbreaking “New Urbanism” residential development, has launched a new print, online and outdoor advertising campaign based on the concept of “Long Live Excess.” The premier property’s latest promotional effort boasts a fresh energy and attitude, and is focused on introducing New York to a new kind of luxury living in Westchester. “We were blown away when we visited the property so we took their extensive amenities package, the luxurious apartments, and the overall quality of life, and we put it out there,” said James Baldi, CEO and creative director at Warehouse Agency. “‘Long Live Excess’ is a battle cry; our call to action that people can live really well at Monarch.” Told from the Monarch resident’s point of view, the new ad campaign is creating a buzz with regal, portrait-style photography supported by statements about a life of extreme comfort and convenience. A modern iconic logo and royal blue color complement a branding that promises an abundantly superior life. Earlier this year, Monarch’s development team Horizon Group LLC selected Warehouse Agency to promote Monarch’s world-class luxury condominium community. This Manhattan-based branding and advertising company recently unveiled a newly conceived campaign that speaks to traditions of extravagance and beauty. Monarch at Ridge Hill will ultimately include four high-rise towers and house 500 state-of-the-art luxury residences. Tower One, comprising 12 stories and 162 units, is complete with move-ins expected in the next few months. “We are delighted with Monarch’s unmistakably aspirational ad campaign,” said David Marom, president of the Horizon Group. “It makes a strong statement, directly communicating with prospective buyers asking, “Are you Monarch?”
“ WISE, WITTY, AND
– NY HERALD TRIBUNE
WINNING.”
Westchester Broadway Theatre Group WBT_theatre
LERNER & LOEWE’S THEATRICAL MASTERPIECE ON STAGE NOW
“I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT” “THE RAIN IN SPAIN” • “ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE”
With a three-tier teaser ad campaign in place, Monarch’s advertisements are grabbing people’s attention with striking slogans such as, “It’s like we’re kids again; really, really spoiled kids” and “Why have plenty, when you can have everything?” The second phase of this bold campaign will be rolled out next year. With meticulous attention to detail, Andres Escobar and Associates, a leader in cutting-edge interior design, has integrated a 21st-century desire for environmentally friendly features with a modern and stylish composition. To minimize energy consumption, individual thermostats control efficient natural gas heating and cooling. In addition, continuously filtered air and 24/7 bathroom and kitchen exhaust will enhance indoor air quality and comfort. The project has applied for the silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Spacious floor plans – with ceilings as tall as 10 feet, high-end finishes and careful attention to detail – create warm and inviting homes. All kitchens are outfitted with stateof-the-art stainless steel appliances, sleek cabinetry and Caesar Stone quartz countertops. Each home has eco-friendly bamboo flooring in the kitchen, dining and living Continued on page 16
Pothole repairs, as provincial as they may seem, are the solemn responsibilities of bureaucrats in a civil and just locality. The proper execution of these tasks by city officials is no less fundamental to the conduct of our civic and commercial life than the provision of national defense and law and order by the nation and states. Stephen I. Mayo, manufacturing executive-attorney
ReNewRochelle.com
Stephen F O R N EW R O C H E L L E City Council | District 6
An Independent Professionally Diverse Leader and Advocate Stephen
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THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
HOUSING
Monarch at Ridge Hill Announces a New Advertising Campaign for Fall Season Continued from page 15 rooms. Many of Monarch’s Westchester condo residences offer terraces and balconies with views of the Palisades, the top of the George Washington Bridge and even the Empire State Building. In the 25,000-square-foot Monarch Atrium, residents can sunbathe and take a swim in the cabana-equipped outdoor pool, do a few laps in the indoor pool, play tennis or basketball, practice their swing on a golf simulator or work out in a two-story gym with running track. Those more inclined to relax can indulge in the luxurious spa with sauna, or take a moment to look at the breathtaking view from the observation deck. Other
building amenities include 24-hour concierge, a wine cellar, the Residents Lounge with bar, kitchen, iPod station, game table, darts, billiards, Wii and PlayStation, and a business center with WiFi and library. A children’s playroom, playground and bicycle storage area make Monarch at Ridge Hill a true familyfriendly building. “Residents will have all the conveniences and excitement of a New Urban environment with the greenery and beauty of the suburbs,” continues Marom, noting that a short walk along landscaped walkways will bring residents to an open-air plaza that resembles a town center, where they’ll find 12 blocks of elegant shopping, restaurants
and entertainment. Just a few of these include Lord & Taylor, Orvis, L.L. Bean, Sephora, Whole Foods, The Cheese Cake Factory, Brio Tuscan Grille and a 12-screen Cinema De Lux multiplex. Westchester’s Ridge Hill is also home to WESTMED Medical Group, a large multi-specialty group practice. The retail, restaurant and commercial components of Ridge Hill are being developed by the Forest City Ratner Companies. Yonkers is the fourth largest city in the State of New York and is in the midst of a fullscale revitalization. Yonkers is home to many parks, including the Hudson River Esplanade Park, Tibbetts Brook Park with soccer, football and lacrosse fields and the 278-acre Sprain
Ridge Park with picnic areas, pool complex, arboretum and hiking trail. Just four miles from Monarch at Ridge Hill is the Hudson River Museum with great exhibits for the family and just five miles from Monarch is the Dunwoodie Public Golf Course with driving range, club house and practice greens; across the street is Stew Leonard’s. The on-site Sales Gallery is located at One Ridge Hill Road in Yonkers, New York. Monarch is being marketed by Houlihan Lawrence. The Sales Gallery is open by appointment Thursday through Monday. For more information, contact Monarch at Ridge Hill at 914-375-3710, visit the website at www.MonarchRH.com or e-mail sales@MonarchRH.com.
ENVIRONMENT
Attempting to Legalize the Installation of Sewage Systems on Hen Island By RAYMOND J. TARTAGLIONE Mayor French is attempting to legalize the installation of sewage systems for an entire community without first complying with the necessary statutory requirements including draft or environmental impact statements, engineering reports or studies of any kind. The residents of Rye need to be informed of what the ramifications will be in Rye if composting toilets are allowed to be installed on Hen Island. It should be noted that the installation of chemical, incinerating or composting toilets, are not a remedy to the current sewage pollution problem on Hen Island and they may in actuality cause more of an environmental and health problem than the present systems. Although there are many different types of chemical, incinerating and composting toilets, the process work factors are similar but none of the systems treat gray water in any way. Therefore, if Hen Island is allowed to install composting systems, according to New York State codes, homeowners will have to use their present illegal systems for the handling of liquid effluents or install new systems for the treatment of gray water. Gray water, defined as dishwashing residuals, along with bathing and showering residuals, all produce microorganisms, pathogens and non-degradable chemicals. Gray water usage is estimated to account for up to 40 gallons per person, per day. The recently, improperly permitted and installed composting systems on the south and middle sections of the Island can evidence this. At the time of construction of the south end cottage, in addition to installing an incinerating toilet without
the compost batch to 55 gallon sealed drums and storing them for one year in the sun to meet minimum public health risks. There is an unwritten mandate within regulatory agencies that the general population cannot be left to deal with their own excrement. These issues of sewage treatment and potable water are very delicate and in-depth issues that should be handled by professionals that have undertaken studies, visited the site, explored alternatives and come to conclusions based on scientific research and experience. A portion of the current New York State codes is copied below for reference.
New York State Septic System Design Regulations 75-A.10 states: Health Department approval, the owner illegally installed a new sewage disposal system to handle his gray water effluents. Similarly, the middle island cottage owner still uses his pre-existing system that continues to pollute the waters of the Long Island Sound due to its placement in a water table of less than two feet. Most notable is that all composting toilets require some type of consistent electricity for both heat elements and air flow fans used for evaporation. Many homes on Hen Island have no electricity and those that do, have solar electrical systems with limited capacity and they cannot leave solar systems on when they are not in residence. Other potential problems include personal health threats, as well as to the community at large from lack of use, bad
carbon/nitrogen mixes, too much moisture, refusal of users to follow instructions, and personal contact contamination when the user is empting the unit if the composting process has not been thorough and complete. It is also cautioned that when empting a composting unit the handler should wear protective gloves and a mask. The biggest problem is the potential for composting toilets to become a habitat for vectors. These can be any critter that can carry a pathogen to a more common human living environment. These vectors include mosquitoes, flies, mice, and rats, etc. If it has been determined that if there is major problem with the compost batch in a home, the owner will have to use a process called a “MAJOR PROBLEM DEFAULT SEQUENCE” which includes transferring
“b. Non-waterborne Systems 1. General – In certain areas of the State where running water is not available or is too scarce to economically support flush toilets, or where there is a need or desire to conserve water, the installation of non-water-borne sewage systems may be considered however, the treatment of wastewater from sinks, showers, or other facilities must be provided when nonflush toilets are installed. 2. Chemical and Recirculating Toilets i. Chemical toilets provide a toilet seat located directly above a vault containing chemicals to disinfect and remove odors from the wastewater. Recirculating toilets use chemicals as the toilet flush fluid. The wastes are separated from the fluid, wastes Continued on page 17
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
ENVIRONMENT
Attempting to Legalize the Installation of Sewage Systems on Hen Island Continued from page 16 discharged to an internal holding tank and the fluid reused. ii. The liquids used in these types of toilets do not completely disinfect the wastes, therefore waste products from these units shall not be discharged to surface waters or to the ground surface. iii. The reduced volume wastewater from recirculating toilets may be discharged to a larger holding tank but not to a subsurface absorption system.” Rather than requiring homeowners to install systems that do not remediate the current sewage issues, the Board along with the City of Rye should be encouraging and recommending the undertaking of studies on how we can address all four issues (sewage, potable water, mosquitoes, and lack of regular maintenance) currently risking the health and safety of the community. We believe that due to a personal relationship between Rye’s Mayor Doug French and his neighbor on Meadow Place, (who is also a Hen Island resident) that the City of Rye is encouraging and attempting to change the codes and zoning to allow composting systems on Hen Island. Mayor French is trying to fast track this issue due to current and past pressure as a result of his failure to enforce sewage, potable water, maintenance and the worst mosquito infestation in a residential community in Westchester County. Additionally Mayor French is attempting to legalize the installation of sewage systems for an entire community without first complying with the necessary statutory requirements including draft or environmental impact statements, engineering reports or studies of any kind. He has public stated that “composting system are an easy fix to the problem on Hen Island”. Unfortunately he has failed to state all of the short comings of composting systems and that composting systems are alternative systems that are used in remote residential locations where sewer access is not available. The Board of Directors along with Mayor French would not like the public to know that an easement is in place on Hen Island. We presently have incorporated in our deed a utility easement that can be exercised by the Hen Island community that would allow sewage and potable water to be handled according to regulations. Although ultimately the Mayor “MAY” be successful in creating code and zoning changes before his term is complete he will most likely spark multiple law suits that will affect the Hen Island community, cause taxpayers to waste more money and ultimately cause Hen Island to rectify the problems the right way after he is no longer in office. This could happen after residents have spent thousands of dollars to install composting systems in vain. With regards to the covering of water tanks that store water for domestic use on the Island,
this inappropriate fix is also being suggested to calm complaints from Rye residents particularly concerned about the many mosquito breeding sites allowed to continue on Hen Island. These mosquito breeding sites are as a result of stored stagnant water in tanks, (approximately 1000 gallons per household X 33 homes) filling in the buffer zone with debris (which creates rain water ponds) and a general lack of maintenance on the Island. The first requirement of any effective mosquito control program is to remove any standing water. The Board of Director’s recommendation to cover the water is not and will not be effective as the water that has been stored in horse troughs for years has been covered in the past to stop leaves and other debris from clogging the home water systems. These covers cannot stop the mosquito breeding as the inlet openings have to be open to receive incoming water. Even in situations in the mid west where animal troughs are necessary to accommodate drinking water for animals, the remedy to eliminate mosquito breeding from these troughs is to allow continual water flow which will break the life cycle of the larva. Continual water flow on Hen Island is not possible as there is no running water on the Island. Additionally the covering of water collected from rooftops (infected with bird feces) and pumped in homes for domestic use, does not address the absence of potable water in cottages on Hen Island. Residents will still be required to wash dishes, cooking utensils and shower in bird feces infected water collected from rooftops. The Hen Island attorney, Rye’s Mayor Doug French and the Board of Directors have no experience in this field and should not determine our future and the future health concerns of our neighbors. It has been rumored that this is a fight within a community between neighbors on Hen Island. In looking at the small picture this may be true but in the larger frame of things, it should be noted that these issues affect everyone not only in Green Haven, Milton Point and Rye but also every community that uses the Long Island Sound. The future health and safety of not only our community but also the neighboring Milton Harbor, Green haven, Milton Point and Rye will be affected by these inappropriate decisions if they are allowed to happen. If Mayor French and the Board of Directors for Hen Island were truly concerned with the health and safety of residents, they would both suggest and mandate appropriate studies along with the proper remedies and stop this charade of “we are fixing the problem.” Raymond J. Tartaglione is the HEALtheHARBOR.com Webmaster.
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The Westchester Guardian
GovernmentSection MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN
GOVERNMENT
Village Laws and Safety By MARY C. MARVIN
September seems like the opportune time to review Village laws relating to safety given that our streets and sidewalks are busy with returning students and residents. The areas adjacent to all of the schools in the Village, including our nursery schools, are school zones with a 20mph speed limit. Our police officers are monitoring these areas with radar and unfortunately folks are speeding. In one four hour period, eleven tickets were written last week at one location. Our police officers are also enforcing the no texting and no cell phone use while driving laws throughout the Village as well as the no idling law. Both the County and Village laws prohibit cars and buses to idle in wait for more than three minutes. As a reminder, according to New York State law, sidewalks are for pedestrians and roads for vehicles. Our officers are noticing far too many joggers and even students walking to school in the road. Vehicle and Traffic Law, section 1156, states that “where sidewalks are provided and they may be used with safety, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.
If sidewalks are not provided, pedestrians must walk only on the left side of the road facing the traffic.” I remind homeowners of the obligation to keep the sidewalk adjacent to one’s home in good repair. To encourage pedestrians to use sidewalks, Village staff will be inspecting properties and the condition of the sidewalk and issuing violation notices where necessary. Bicycles may be ridden on sidewalks throughout the Village if the rider is under the age of 11. However, no one can ride bicycles or skateboards on the sidewalks in our two business districts. Please remember to cross only at corners. While convenience is tempting, it does not mean it is safe. A particularly dangerous crossing is from the library parking lot to the gym entrance of the school. There are no curb cuts or crosswalk markings here in an effort to discourage crossing in mid-traffic. During school construction we made accommodations here, perhaps not wisely, because other entrances to the school building were closed. They were meant to be temporary in nature. There is a crosswalk 300 feet away with a traffic control device and not too far down the street, Theresa, our crossing guard, helps with safe passage. Some residents have inquired about adding pedestrian walk signs at the Pondfield
Road/Midland Avenue intersection. The current light system is so antiquated that it cannot take any upgrades. According to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to add walk buttons would require a configuration similar to that recently installed at the intersection of Kraft Avenue and Cedar Street which some residents have found unattractive. It would also cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has been looked at many times in the past. However, the Trustees and I will again review the data associated with that corner, mindful that safety has to be our number one priority. As a refresher, the following are some rules governing pedestrian “right of way” in crosswalks according to the Vehicle and Traffic Law of New York State. “When a pedestrian is in a marked crosswalk, cars must yield in both directions.” However, “no pedestrians shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impractical for the driver to yield.” It is important to remember that a crosswalk is not an extension of the sidewalk and pedestrians must exercise judgment before stepping off a curb. When crossing in mid-street, “every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway.”
The streets around the Bronxville School are busiest at drop-off and dismissal times so you may want to arrange errands accordingly. The High School and Middle School day beings at 7:50AM and ends at 2:45PM. The Elementary School day commences at 8:30AM and also finishes at 2:45PM. The approximately 20 minute period around these times brings many cars to Midland Avenue, Pondfield Road and Meadow Avenue. The busy times in town at our eateries for student lunches are between 11AM and 11:40AM and 12:10PM to 1PM. Speaking of the business district, we are very mindful of the numerous “crossing a double yellow line” infractions and are increasing enforcement. It is important to note that our parking enforcement officers are not police officers and cannot stop cars for this violation. Finally, as the leaves begin to come down, we ask that you keep them out of the roadways. Most communities have a fine for this but we continue to rely on your good judgment. Wet leaves in roadways have caused accidents and they also easily migrate to our drain, clogging the sewers. If you have suggestions how to make our Village safer, please e-mail me at mayor@ vobny.com. Mary C. Marvin is the mayor of the Village of Bronxville.
GOVERNMENT
On the Campaign Trail in New Rochelle By PEGGY GODFREY The New Rochelle Citizens Reform Club invited City Council candidates for Districts 1-4 to their September 22 meeting. Only Republican candidates showed up. Ivar Hyden (Dem.District 4) did let the group know he had another meeting, but Councilman Jared Rice (Dem.-District 3) and Roberto Lopez (Dem.-District 1)) did not respond to a second email asking whether they were coming. But the members of the Reform Club had a lively meeting and many issues became quite clear. The first Councilman to speak was Al Tarantino,.D.2, running unopposed. He described the new district lines and how the Democrats are trying to change New
Rochelle. The three Republicans now on Council have each year advocated to keep the tax rate under 5%. In trying to revitalize Hudson Park the Council tested the Tiki Bar and would reevaluate it this winter. On the Waterfront Restaurant has a new lease and was required to renovate. At the Train station they opened bathrooms and raised the payments on the Bluebird lease. His criteria for voting for an item is, “What is the public benefit for the people who already live here.” If there is no benefit, he won’t approve it. When asked about tax incentives to developers he answered it depends on what is being presented. For a Bloomingdale’s he would consider a tax abatement. Marino Michelotti queried, “There was no place to shop on Main Street, how would retail be Continued on page 19
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GOVERNMENT
On the Campaign Trail in New Rochelle Continued from page 18 brought in?” The reply was there are five new restaurants opening. Councilman Lou Trangucci (District 1) spoke next. He reminded the group about the $9 million he had requested and obtained from Avalon for the land. He also reminded the audience that Mayor Bramson was part of the original land disposition agreement. He also initiated the inquiry resulting in the 22 felony count indictment in the Department of Pubic Works by the District Attorney. As he monitors his district he advocates for an improved quality of life. One serious problem is the drop in sales tax from $25.7 million to $23 million. This $2.7 million loss can not be made up and the $100 million in sales will not come back for a while. $47 million in real estate taxes, $23 million in sales tax,$14 million in state aid and $23 million in fees total $107 million for the City budget. The Mayor, he reminded the group, wants to build residential but this will “destroy the city.” The Mayor has the votes. Can one Democrat be swayed by the residents to change his or her vote? He was able to convince the City Manager to use the Fund Balance to avoid layoffs of Firemen for
a half year. John D’Alois asked about the Mayor’s receipt of campaign funds from Forest City Residential. Trangucci answered that Councilman Richard St. Paul and Tarantino and himself, had voted in favor of a resolution which said City Council members should not take money from anyone doing business with the City but it was defeated 4-3 on Council. When George Imburgia asked about sales tax guarantees, Trangucci answered he had asked Forest City residential (which wilt need approval for a renewal for the Echo Bay proposal in January 2012) if they would guarantee the sales tax in their proposal, the answer was “no.” Bramson in his view “wants structures to go up.” Ralph Luccarelli questioned whether a limit could be placed on tax abatements, and was told Councilman Richard St. Paul wanted the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) members to be appointed by the entire Council and also discussed abolishing the New Rochelle IDA. The Republicans have advocated for more open government and now the Zoning Board, Planning Board and IDA meetings are televised. The candidate in District 3, John Earvin,
began by saying he answers to “anything close” to his last name. He found New Rochelle looking for a Bronx address and six months later he moved here. Lamenting New Rochelle does not have retail, he felt the “local politicians need to get their house in order.” The Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on Council and he said, his opponent “never found a vote that wasn’t the same as the Mayor’s.” Mount Vernon, White Plains and Port Chester have retail and, referring to being a former Marine, he commented he was going to get a plan together to try to change New Rochelle. In answer to a question from the audience, Earvin said “If I don’t do things right (as a business) I go out of business. The last candidate, Kevin Barrett, (District 4), shared his background said he loves beautiful New Rochelle. He took a bike ride to the Thomas Paine statue which says, “...The world is my country and to do good is my religion.” Changing New Rochelle’s government from 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans will require people to go out to vote. He has been knocking on doors but has not seen his opponent yet. Marino Michelotti asked his opinion of “building fortresses with tax abatements.” Barrett answered he is a real estate broker and bank
manager and has never heard of an 30 year tax abatement. The developers should take the risks, and “to make matters worse, the property was sold with the tax abatement.” He felt there was too much residential development in New Rochelle. With 5,000 more people living in the City, sales tax went down. Retail development never happened. If retail does not come to the City, taxes will go up. Steve Mayo, (District 6) was in the audience and mentioned the “tragedy of Main Street” because north end residents won’t come downtown. James Jackson stated it takes a north end resident l0 minutes to get to Sickles Avenue, and then five minutes more to Main Street and find a parking space where he will be greeted by a meter maid. To go to White Plains takes l0 minutes to get to department stores there. Dr Joe McNelis wanted to put the Board of Education budget under the City, but was he was told it would take a charter revision to do that. Former Assemblyman Ron Tocci reminded the group that the City had a referendum to elect their Board of Education members, and felt another referendum was needed to select Board of Education members by district. Lorraine Pierce summed up, “These are the best Council candidates I have seen in New Rochelle in a very long time.
New Rochelle City Manager Strome Announces Appointments to Iona Planning Committee New Rochelle, NY -- As part of the collaborative planning process announced last month between the City of New Rochelle and Iona College, City Manager Charles Strome announced members of the Iona Planning Committee. The Committee will examine options for addressing student housing objectives and other college priorities while also improving the economy and quality of life for the larger community. “This committee, comprised of representatives from Iona College, surrounding neighborhoods and the City administration, is well-suited for the task at hand,” said City Manager Charles Strome. “We look forward to their recommendations.” The Iona Planning Committee will be holding its first meeting in mid October. CHAIRPERSON/FACILITATOR (Non-Voting Member): Matthew Fasciano COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES (Non-Voting Members): City Council Member District Three (currently Jared Rice) City Council Member District Five (currently Barry Fertel) CITY REPRESENTATIVES (Voting
Members): City Manager or his designee Commissioner of Development or his designee NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATIVES (Voting Members appointed by City Manager) Sara Dodds-Brown – Rochelle Heights Neighborhood Association Bob Kelly – Beechmont Neighborhood Association Madeleine Peters – Greater Mount Joy Neighborhood Association
Naomi Towers – Mount Joy Neighborhood Association Nick Williams – Halcyon Park Neighborhood Association IONA REPRESENTATIVES (Voting Members appointed by President of Iona College) Charles Carlson – Vice Provost for Student Development Kyle Harry – Former President of Iona Student Government Association and current Graduate student and Admissions Operations Secretary Jonathan
Ivec – Vice President for Finance and Administration Joseph E. Nyre – President (or designee: Michele Sampson or others) Marilyn Wilkie, Acting Vice President for Advancement and External Affairs
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please submit your Letter to the Editor electronically, that is by directing email to WHYTeditor@gmail.com Please confine your writing to between 350 and 500 words. Your name, address, and telephone contact is requested for verification purpose only. A Letter to the Editor will be accepted at the editor’s discretion when space permits. A maximum of one submission per month may be accepted.
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The Westchester Guardian
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Senator Greg Ball with Chairman of the SAGE Commission Paul Francis at Tuesday’s economic summit in Albany, New York.
ALBANY, NY -- Senator Greg Ball (R, C – Patterson) joined President Bill Clinton and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on September 27, 2011, for a daylong economic summit in Albany, New York. Among the highlights, was a meeting of the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission (SAGE), a 20-member panel Senator Ball was appointed to by the Governor to consolidate state government and save New Yorkers money. “Unlike what we are seeing in Congress, we have been able to illustrate the strength of working together as a team and in a bipartisan fashion. Working with Governor Cuomo we cut state spending, passed an on time balanced budget and stood firm against all tax hikes, while proactively capping property taxes across the state. That type of progress took real teamwork and I applaud the Governor for heightening SAGE’s image. I’m honored to be part of a team that is focused specifically on cutting duplicative services and getting government out of the way so that beleaguered entrepreneurs and small businesses can do what they do best: create jobs!” “The old way of doing business in Albany is no longer an option,” said Senator Ball. “I’m thrilled and applaud Governor Cuomo for bringing new attention and focus to our efforts to streamline state government. Reinventing state government and streamlining our processes to make New York State open for business and job creation will be difficult because of political pitfalls and inner turf battles. To create jobs and entice new investment
into our state we must cut through the clutter of state bureaucracy, nepotism and patronage, the former President is a great public image boost, making our commitment to the task public and real!” Senator Ball was appointed the SAGE Commission on April 19, 2011. The Commission was charged with looking at four main areas of opportunity for improving the performance, efficiency and accountability of state government: • Streamline the organizational structure of State government by consolidating agencies, authorities, commissions, etc. that have overlapping missions. • Identify operational improvements such as shared services, enhanced use of information technology and changes in service delivery mechanisms. • Develop metrics and targets to help improve performance and make government more open, transparent and accountable. • Identify non-critical activities that are less central to the core mission of agencies or State government. Several months ago, Senator Ball launched YouCutAlbany.com, a website that allows taxpayers to cast votes for specific wasteful spending items. “We have literally received hundreds of great ideas, and as a member of SAGE, I am taking these nuggets of good information, gleaned from the community, with me. This website allows taxpaying citizens to make decisions on areas they would like to see cut. I need to hear from the community!”
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
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GOVERNMENT
September City Council Updates By DOUGAS FRENCH Flood Mitigation Plan The Council held a special meeting on Storm Response and Recovery last week to update, inform and get feedback on storm preparedness, relief and rebuilding. This is a two-step process that is not just about relief after the fact, but about preventative funding and a commitment to mitigate the upstream impact on downstream flash-flooding that requires a series of sluice gates and retention ponds. It also requires effective enforcement on upstream development to detain stormwater - and be held accountable for it -- while downstream development and replacement be properly elevated above the 100-year flood elevation levels. Here is the status of the City’s flood mitigation plan. While these projects are costly, the total cost does not come close to the amount of past and potential future loss with recurring flooding.
Bowman Avenue Dam Sluice Gate This project will help regulate water flow downstream. With the passage of the New York State budget in the spring, final agency funding was released and the City moved to an inter-municipal agreement with the Village of Rye Brook which was just approved. The site plan is under review for approval later this month. From there, the City will go out to bid for the mechanical part and related construction with the project. Total cost is about $2M.
Bowman Ave Dam Upper Pond Expansion The grant to study the expansion of the upper pond which is designed to retain more water upstream is pending federal review from agencies such as the EPA. The City will look to reduce the scope of the study in order to expedite the initial review. The study will determine the feasibility and cost/benefit of expanding the upper pond. The City’s initial estimate is about $7M to $10M and would expand capacity of the pond by roughly 30%.
as part of the series of remedies. The City completed a $2M dredging project in Milton Harbor a few years ago that has not had the impact that was hoped for.
Beaver Swamp Brook In addition to the sound shore coast and Blind Brook, Beaver Swamp Brook is another brook in Rye. The City would like to use the Project Homerun development project in Harrison to incorporate flood mitigation remedies at that site for the surrounding area.
1037 Boston Post Road The City finds itself in a unique position having paid higher than the appraised value for a building back in 2006, combined with a significant drop in the real estate market, and the inability to continue to lease a building without an intended public purpose as the City will not move forward with an estimated $25M Police Station/Courthouse on the site. As part of its fiduciary responsibility the Council is exploring all options -- one of which could have been to extend the current zoning by one building that is already in place in downtown Rye.The Planning Commission as it’s charged, advised the Council on all of the potential uses and size parameters that a
Coins & Currency, Gold & Silver Wanted
zoning change authorized only by the Council would allow. Potential projects for future approval and planning review would range from commercial use, office space, residential and combined retail/residential. As such, the School Administration was also notified for enrollment projections. Although no sale or development proposals are currently under review or have come forward, the Council determined that given the recent flooding, increasing school enrollment, traffic and parking impacts, a zoning change of this magnitude should not be considered. Although the standard City procedures for zoning review were followed in terms of
obtaining planning comment, public notification and public hearings, this is not a standard situation. As Mayor, given the uniqueness of the circumstances, this requires an enhanced process outside the norm that would allow for broader review and consideration. Visit the City of Rye Website at www.ryeny. gov or contact me, City Council members or City Manager should you need more information. Douglas French is the mayor of the City of Rye, New York. mayor@ryeny.gov.
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Anderson Hill Road Retention Pond The Army Corps of Engineers has identified a location on Anderson Hill Road and SUNY Purchase for a retention pond that will require a $3M study, one-third of which will need to be funded by non-federal sources and approximately 30 months of study. This project would be tens of millions and would be coordinated with the Village of Rye Brook, Town/Village of Harrison and the University. Downstream dredging to allow water to run out to the Long Island Sound Nothing is planned but has been cited
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The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
THE ALBANY CORRESPONDENT
Ruth On the Move
coalitions, share the concerns of their constituents, and identify out-of-thebox solutions to the most pressing issues their communities today. By CARLOS GONZALEZ facingConference participants included the Reverend Jess Jackson, presidential Albany, NY -- In a state candidate Herman Cain, Congressman Ron previously known for a Senate Paul, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd mired with dysfunction, a Whitman, among others. Bronx/Westchester senator “We are so proud of Senator Hassellis reversing such an image nationally and Thompson and all that she has accomplished,” has been tapped to serve in leadership of stated Robin Read, NFWL’s President & the nation’s oldest organization addressing CEO. “We are looking forward to her leaderthe needs of elected women at all levels of ship in the Foundation and I know she will government. make this year one of the most exciting and Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D/ productive years that NFWL has seen.” WFP- Bronx/Westchester) was recently Other notables around the nation elected to serve as the New York State Director teaming up and working closely with Hassellfor the National Order of Women Legislators Thompson are Chair-Elect Representative (NOWL), which was founded in 1938 and Gayle Harrell (FL), Past Chair Senator Swati serves as the membership arm of the National Dandekar (IA), board member’s Senator Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), Diane Allen (NJ), Senator Linda Coleman at the 2011 NFWL Annual Conference, this (AL), Representative Helene Keeley (DE), year hosted in Des Moines, Iowa. and Clerk Susan Mendoza (IL). “I am honored that my colleagues from Senator Hassell-Thompson will begin across the nation have selected me for this serving in her new position immediately, esteemed position within the Foundation’s and will hold this office through 2012, when leadership,” said Hassell-Thompson through the Foundation hosts NFWL’s Annual a press release that arrived at our desk from Conference next fall, November 15-19, 2012. Washington, D.C. “I look forward to building The position is unpaid. stronger relationships with elected women Senator Hassell-Thompson has not throughout New York State and across state been idle during her tenure as a member lines. The National Foundation for Women of the New York State Legislature. While Legislators offers many important programs in the former Senate Democratic Majority, and initiatives for women to learn about and Hassell-Thompson spearheaded and passed use to assist their own constituents.” a legislative package which fundamentally According to the release, hundreds of restructured matrimonial law to improve the elected women gathered in Iowa August 11-15 process and outcome of divorce for all New for NFWL’s Annual Conference to identify Yorkers, particularly women and children who effective solutions to some of the nation’s are often the most vulnerable when marriages most timely and pressing issues. Providing a are dissolved. non-partisan environment that encourages Another huge victory For Hasselldialogue and the sharing of information and Thompson was the passage of a law experiences, women leaders are able to build
establishing a formula for judges to use in determining the “Post-Marital Income” in a divorce. Though passage was a collaborative effort, insiders in Albany give full credit to Hassell-Thompson for rising up and demanding passage. “YOU”RE NEXT” BILLBOARDS Not so much Westchester-related, but it’s certainly newsworthy. Billboards have been purchased and going up around the Capital blasting GOP Sen. Roy McDonald of Saratoga. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today announced that it has launched a billboard campaign in the districts of state Senators Mark Grisanti, Stephen Saland, James Alesi and Shirley Huntley to hold them accountable for their vote last June to redefine marriage in New York. The new billboards say of the individual state Senator, “You’re Next” and is intended as a reference to the defeat of David Weprin in the 9th Congressional District. NOM funded a major independent expenditure campaign in the Weprin race, making his vote to redefine marriage a decisive issue in his defeat in a district Democrats have held since the early 1920s. “Just like David Weprin discovered earlier this month when he faced voters after redefining marriage, Mark Grisanti, Stephen Saland, James Alesi, Roy McDonald and Shirley Huntley will soon discover that the people of New York will not sit idly by while the institution of marriage is redefined without voters having any say in the matter,” said Brian Brown, president of NOM. “NOM and our Let The People Vote” coalition will not rest until these legislators are turned out of office and the people of New York are allowed to vote on the definition of marriage.” The group indicated to the Westchester Guardian that it has invested $40,000 on the
highly visible billboard campaign. VETO IS CERTAIN - CUOMO Toward the end of an interview today with Susan Arbetter on The Capitol Pressroom, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made perhaps his most direct comments yet on his vow to veto the new legislative lines drawn by the LATFOR, The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. When asked if he would veto the lines drawn by the lawmaker-run commission, Cuomo said, “yes.” “I don’t see how a non-independent process can produce an independent product,” he added. “I therefore would veto a bill that is not an independent product. It would therefore go to the courts. That’s what I’ve said and that’s what I’m sticking by.” The statement on LATFOR today from Cuomo is significant because it removes some confusion about whether the governor would veto lines he considers “unfair” or simply non-independent. Cuomo has said he wants an independent commission to draw state and federal legislative boundaries. Still, he has no plans to call the Legislature back to Albany before the end of the year to do so because no agreement is in place for a commission. Senate Democrats are particularly pushing for an independent redrawing of the lines in 2012. Because of their enrollment advantage in the state, Democrats feel they have a good shot of reclaiming control of the Senate, which is divided 32-30. Republicans argue that the redistricting issue is a Senate Minority smokescreen, led by an “administration that has no legislative agenda but to reclaim perks for their members in exchange of protecting taxpayers.”
LABOR
Westchester Medical Center: World Class Medicine Unless You Work There! By NANCY KING During any election cycle here in Westchester County, the phrase Westchester Medical Center (WMC) rolls off the tongues of candidates and incumbents alike. More often than not the phrase is related to some irrelevant data that has nothing to do with the Medical Center, or more often than not, it has to do with keeping an eye on how this county institution is administering care and spending money. More often than not I want to scream
out to those dopey politicians, “It’s not a county run facility you nincompoop, its private.” Of course it’s easier to bite one’s tongue than to engage in public humiliation, but it is indeed time to take a look at Westchester County’s second largest employer. Originally a hospital facility for the U.S. Army, WMC in its earliest form was created as a recovery facility for soldiers suffering from the Spanish flu in 1918. At that time, it was staffed by volunteer physicians! The 1920’s
and 30’s saw the facility used as a treatment center in the country for patients recovering from tuberculosis. It was at that time that the hospital and its property were renamed Grasslands. And if you are over 50 years of age and live in the immediate proximity of the Grasslands Reservation, you will also remember that it was a working farm complete with livestock. At that time, the facility was also known as the “County Home.” From that time, up until 1998, The Grasslands Hospital
was a county run entity. In 1998, though, Westchester Medical Center became an independent institution by breaking away from county government. In its new format, the Westchester Medical Center is a public benefits corporation that just so happens to sit on some county property. But the new Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) encountered some serious financial problems in those early years and required millions of Continued on page 23
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
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LABOR
Westchester Medical Center: World Class Medicine Continued from page 22 dollars in bailout money. Of course everyone has their own personal theory as to why WMC was on the brink of collapse ranging from the treatment of non-paying patients, to administrators padding their salaries. Perhaps the simplest reason was that former CEO Ed Stolzenberg didn’t understand that since it was a private corporation, and not a county run ATM machine, that when that ATM was empty, it really wasn’t up to the county to refill it with cash. Whatever the case was, the years 2004 thru 2006 saw a multi-million dollar bailout of WMC orchestrated by then Senator Nick Spano and then Assemblymen Richard Brodsky and Adam Bradley. Of course the New York State taxpayers footed the bill. In the years that have followed, WMC has enjoyed success financially and from a public relations perspective. Management would beg to differ however, and would want the general public to believe that WMC is currently on life support. With the designation of being a Level I trauma center, its world renowned transplant center, and with the opening of the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the vast majority of news coming out of WMC has been positive. But as their Public relations Department spins feel good stories and commercials about WMC, very quietly, the administration has been terminating employees and discontinuing programs. Since 2010, the onsite laundry has been closed and laundry is now shipped out to a private vendor. The CEPEP program that provided crisis care has been discontinued and with that is the loss of experienced mental health workers. Ward 29, which housed prisoners from the county jail, has been replaced (by the county) with a private agency that
provides inmate care. Portions of the emergency room have been outsourced and Sodexho, the corporation that provides the food service to the hospital, is poised to take over more departments. This spells big trouble for Local 9201. As they get ready to negotiate a contract, union leaders will not only have to work out agreeable terms for their members, they will also be combating management’s clear intention of union busting by the elimination of jobs through program elimination and then re-instating them with outside non-union vendors. It’s also hard to maintain the morale of the employees when they are compared to General Motors before their bailout. Imagine showing up for work every day, doing your job to the best of your ability and then hearing that the Westchester Medical Center and its employees are just like General Motors, in the fact that they are just too big, and can’t provide a quality product. Such as that paraphrased phrase has been uttered at board meetings and in department meetings, it is no wonder that there is a morale issue at WMC. Management here, like in any other corporate environment has forgotten that it is it’s workers, whether they work in an operating room or maintain complex electrical panels, are the very people who do indeed provide a quality product. Union leaders across the state are facing the very same dilemma of those in both the WMC and at the County. Union workers are being quietly intimidated from reporting “abuses” by management. At WMC, workers have shared that there have been no employee annual reviews since early spring and thus no annual raises. A cost savings strategic move by management, but more importantly, it has become another tool to instill fear in union
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Legislators From Across the State Train for 3rd Legislators’ Harness Race at Yonkers Raceway By FRANK DRUCKER YONKERS, NY -- Yonkers Raceway is busily preparing for its third annual Fall Harvest Festival. The free family-fun event, set for Saturday, October 22, runs from 5:30pm to 9:30pm on the track apron at Yonkers Raceway and showcases the thriving relationship between horse racing and agriculture all across New York State. Among the Fall Harvest Festival highlights is the third Legislators Challenge, in which New York State Senators and Assembly Members compete in four nonwagering harness races (with some help from
workers. Folks are fearful about asking a supervisor to perform the review feeling that they will receive an unfavorable review thus setting the stage for their ultimate dismissal. They also feel that if they go to their union shop stewards, they will be targeted as whistle blowers who need to be silenced. Of course this sort of thought process keeps good workers from exercising their rights to file a grievance. Those union workers who have been denied a review should certainly ask for one since it is their right. According to contract, management can’t deny a step raise even if they don’t provide a review. Members should always request an annual review because being a union member is about protecting the American worker. If a union worker doesn’t speak up about the mismanagement by management, then they will ultimately lose. Union busting is nothing new, but in a depressed economy, the American worker, especially if they are a union member, can and are easily targeted by management. The management at WMC is no different. With upwards of more than 25 senior executives and vice presidents, it is one of the most top heavy of PBC’s. CEO Michael Israel makes $1.24 million a year, and overall, top executives and vice presidents have made $10.6 million annually. Their mission of providing health care no matter what a
patient’s financial and insurance situation has been lost. The Westchester Health Care Corporation is concerned with one thing, and one thing only, and that is to make a profit. So strong is their conviction to make that profit that they have forgotten about all of those cogs that make their wheel move forward. As this issue of The Westchester Guardian goes to print, the nurses’ union at WMC is negotiating their contract. According to members of NYSNA (New York State Nurses Association) management has walked out of negotiations because they won’t even entertain the nurse’s contract proposals. I guess the slick ad campaign about world class healthcare doesn’t apply to those who provide the bulk of that care. The Westchester Medical Center will endure. It will probably even remain a PBC because one hopes that somewhere a vice president or manager will have an epiphany and remember that the original mission statement of this Public Benefits Corporation and its workers is what has made this facility a place of World Class Medicine. Next week’s final installment will take a look at what happened when the union was prevented from forming at the New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center. Nancy King is a resident of Greenburgh, New York. Commercial • Industrial & Residential Services Roll-Off Containers 1-30 Yards Home Clean-up Containers Turn-key Demolition Services
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THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Legislators From Across the State Train for 3rd Legislators’ Harness Race at Yonkers Raceway Continued from page 23 rbial “leg-up” over their rivals. Senator Tony Avella (D-Queens), Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-Suffolk), Assemblywoman Addie Russell (D- Jefferson & St. Lawrence), and Assemblyman Michael Spano (D- Yonkers) are pictured training at Yonkers Raceway. Two-time champ Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chair, Gary Pretlow (D- Mt. Vernon) showed up not to train, but to check out the competition. Senator Martin Malave Dilan (D-Brooklyn) is scheduled to train on Saturday, October 1st. As of this writing, the scheduled participants for the October 22nd Legislators Challenge include...Assemblyman Michael R. Benedetto (D-Bronx), Assemblyman Philip M. Boyle (R- Suffolk), Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D-Bronx), Assemblyman Michael J. Cusick (D–Staten Island),
Assemblyman Michael G. DenDekker (D– Queens), Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszyk (D– Erie), Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow (D–Mount Vernon), Assemblyman Andrew P. Raia (R–Suffolk), Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell (D– Jefferson/St. Lawrence), Assemblyman Joseph Saladino (R- Nassau), Assemblyman Mike Spano (D–Yonkers),
Senator Tony Avella (D–Queens), Senator Greg R Ball (R–Dutchess/ Putnam), Senator Martin Malave Dilan (D–Brooklyn), Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D–Mount Vernon/Bronx) and Senator Kevin Parker (D–Brooklyn). Race time is 5:30pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011. It must be noted that Assemblymen Castro, Cusick and Pretlow won their Challenge divisions last year, with Mr. Pretlow in fact going after a three-peat. The Fall Harvest Festival also includes pony rides, a petting zoo, pumpkin painting and musical entertainment, along with New York State apple, cheese and wine product sampling. There is also a free pineconescented candle giveaway for Empire Club
members, and drawings for $50 betting vouchers, courtesy of Blue Chip Farms. Of course, a full card of parimutuel races is also part of the evening. The New York Sire Stakes Fall Harvest Series races remain scheduled for next Saturday night, October 8. Yonkers’ current live schedule (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) remains in effect, with first post at 7:10 PM. Evening simulcasting accompanies all live programs, with afternoon simulcasting available around the NYRA schedule. Wednesday afternoon simulcasting ends at approximately 5:30 PM. Photo by and courtesy of Sean Hamrock and Mike Rooney. Frank Drucker is Yonkers Raceway Publicity Director.
Op EdSection We Need to Define Poverty Before We Measure It By LARRY M. ELKIN Most of us would say that a homeless person with an undiagnosed mental illness, no job, no marketable skills and no bank account is “poor.” Does the label still apply if that person wins a $1 million lottery jackpot? What about a doctor just out of medical school who has $200,000 in debt, no savings, and a residency that pays $40,000 a year for long hours of arduous work? Is this also an example of poverty? Is an aspiring novelist “poor” if she has a newly minted liberal arts degree from a prestigious college, $100,000 in debt, a minimum-wage day job and no history of selling any books? How about the novelist’s co-worker, who has the same income but has no debt and no higher education? We are much better at counting poor people than we are at identifying them. This makes no sense, and it explains why decades of anti-poverty programs have made little headway at actually reducing poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.6 million more Americans were poor in 2010 than in 2009. That brought the poverty rate to 15.1 percent of Americans, the highest since 1993. Critics of the official poverty index,
which is based on comparing food costs to income, point out that it ignores many significant financial dimensions, including non-cash government assistance such as food stamps, as well as non-food expenses such as out-of-pocket medical expenses, transportation and child care. Various alternative measures have been created, but so far none have caught on. I believe we approach poverty from the wrong direction. Most definitions of poverty focus on an individual’s circumstances – how much money the person has, or how much income the person receives, compared to some benchmark. I think of poverty as a human condition that does not change as quickly or readily as circumstances. A poor person, in my view, is one who cannot adequately provide for himself, or who cannot conserve and manage what resources are available to him. No wonder anti-poverty efforts ultimately fail when they merely provide cash or goods. If you hand a poor person a check, you still have a poor person, just one who has some money at the moment. The Chinese understood this when they created the proverb about the difference between giving a man a fish and teaching him to fish. If we measure poverty according to net
worth or according to single-year income, the homeless lottery winner is richer than the young doctor, the aspiring novelist and the minimum-wage worker. In fact, the latter two might already be part of the 15.1 percent of the population that is officially considered poor. But I would consider the mentally ill, homeless person to be the poorest of the group. Winning $1 million may temporarily change this person’s circumstances, but it will not change his condition. With no financial skills and an untreated, disabling illness, the lottery winner is likely to quickly squander his windfall and revert to his former situation. The minimum wage worker, lacking skills or opportunity to better his financial circumstances, also qualifies as poor in my book. But the aspiring novelist working at the same job for the same minimum wage does not – even though the novelist has $100,000 of debt. The novelist’s degree from a prestigious school is a pretty good indicator that she has opted to follow a personal dream instead of choosing a different, more financially secure path. This person’s education and intellectual skills should continue to provide opportunities that the unskilled minimum-wage co-worker does not have. Poverty by choice
ought not to be seen as poverty at all, at least for purposes of making public policy. And what about the doctor? The doctor has the lowest net worth, at negative $200,000, of the entire group. When we consider that most minimum-wage-earners are entitled to overtime at time-and-a-half, the doctor, on a per-hour basis, may make even less than the official minimum wage. But hardly anyone would consider the doctor to be truly poor. While medicine is not the automatic ticket to wealth and luxury that people assumed it to be when I was growing up, it still provides a decent living – and provides enormous intellectual and emotional satisfaction to a lot of very smart people, not to mention the benefits to society. We cannot make the unskilled worker or the disabled homeless person “non-poor” just by giving them cash or goods; doing so only perpetuates their poverty while masking its symptoms. To reduce poverty, we have to offer tangible help in the form of skills, treatment or some sort of structure to manage resources. This is why financial planners like me help clients set up special needs trusts for disabled family members. (My colleagues Shomari Hearn and Anna Pfaehler have written a very good article on this topic.) Besides tangible help, opportunity is the other vital ingredient in a recipe to reduce poverty, as well as the pseudo-poverty that comes from unemployment of capable people. The truly poor have little chance of Continued on page 25
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
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OPED
We Need to Define Poverty Before We Measure It Continued from page 24 escaping poverty when even their formerly better-off neighbors cannot find work. Some people seem to believe it is the wealthy – the people who not only have money, but also the skills (personal or hired) to retain it – who suffer most when businesses struggle with scarce capital, high taxes and onerous regulation. But if you ask someone who is desperate to find work in order to prevent her family
from bouncing from one shelter to another, you’ll get a different viewpoint. A breadwinner who needs a job does not care how rich the boss gets from her labor. The deep recession and rotten recovery has hurt a lot of people. It has cost homes, jobs, savings, marriages and more. It has pushed far too many households down to poverty-level income and net worth. But it
No Hijab, No Peace
Analyzing the Rye Playland Incident By DAVID J. RUSIN http://www.islamist-watch.org/ blog/2011/09/no-hijab-no-peace-analyzingthe-rye-playland In a controversy sure to fuel the accommodation debate, 15 people were arrested on August 30 at Rye Playland, an amusement park in Westchester County, New York, following a melee that involved Muslims objecting to the prohibition of head coverings on certain rides. One young woman’s refusal to remove her headscarf apparently led to altercations among Muslims, who then scuffled with security officials. Their legal cases have been adjourned until October. Despite claims of discrimination, the park’s rules on headgear are neutral with respect to faith and have a single goal. “It’s a
safety issue on rides. If it’s a scarf, you could choke,” explained Peter Tartaglia, Westchester deputy parks commissioner. Indeed, a Muslim woman was strangled to death last year in Australia when her head covering got caught in the axle of a go-kart. Five reflections on the hijab fracas at Rye Playland: • Once again we see the no-win situation that often results when multiculturalism and safety concerns collide: enforce the appropriate dress code and risk accusations of bias, or loosen the rules and risk accusations of negligence. Other recreational venues, including an Australian water park and a Connecticut roller rink, have faced this same dilemma.
has not made those people truly poor, at least not yet. We do not help anyone when we lump the unemployed with the unemployable under a single label of “poverty.” The problems in both groups are real, but the solutions are not entirely the same.
Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group a
fee-only financial planning firm headquartered in Scarsdale, NY. The firm offers estate planning, insurance consulting, trust planning, cross-border planning, business valuation, family office and business management, executive financial planning, and tax services. Its sister firm, Palisades Hudson Asset Management, is an independent investment advisor with about $950 million under management. Branch offices are in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale. Website:www. palisadeshudson.com.
• Claims that the headgear policy is selectively applied to discriminate against Muslims are undercut by an August 31 article in the Journal News. Describing how the park returned to normal the next day, it notes that two Jewish boys were asked to remove their yarmulkes prior to boarding a roller coaster. They did so without causing a scene. • Headscarves are not the only Islamic attire that could prove dangerous on fast-moving rides. Baggy garments, such as those worn by Muslim women photographed at Rye Playland, may require regulation as well. • Islamists have been known to orchestrate incidents for the purpose of gaining sympathy and concessions (e.g., the “flying imams”). With the Muslims’ visit having been arranged by a chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS), an Islamist group closely linked to the
Muslim Brotherhood, this possibility must be considered. Especially curious: organizers had been told about park policy in advance, yet MAS fliers for the event made no mention of headgear restrictions, thus ensuring plenty of irate Muslims that day. • Behold the noxious influence of groups like CAIR on Muslim minds. “This all happened because we’re Muslim,” charged one of the attendees, demonstrating the Islamist view that anybody who says no to a Muslim must be a bigot. True to form, CAIR responded to the brouhaha by lamenting the “Islamophobia” that allegedly targets covered women. Amusement parks should set rules based on what they believe to be necessary for the protection of their patrons. Tell Rye Playland (contact here) to keep putting safety first — and ignore those Islamists who put agitation first.
nearly a century of precedents by ruling that corporate spending on elections could not be limited, based on the court’s expansive reading of the First Amendment. Precedents seem less important where there is a political agenda. See Bush v. Gore (2000). Individuals have the right to contribute as much as they wish to candidates under the Supreme Court decision in Buckley v. Valeo (1976). Today we will discuss other events in that memorable year in our history, the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. POLITICAL EVENTS IN NEW YORK STATE IN 1976 BTW, the Buckley in the Valeo case is not the author William F. Buckley, who ran for Mayor in 1965, but his brother James, who was a United States Senator from New York at the time of the High Court’s decision. James had been elected on the Conservative Party line in 1970, when the liberal vote was divided between Democrat Richard Ottinger,
a Congressman, and Republican-Liberal Charles Goodell, who had been appointed to the Senate in 1968 by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller to fill the vacancy caused by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Senator Goodell had five sons, one of whom is Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League. After one six-year term, Senator Buckley was defeated for re-election by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the DemocraticLiberal candidate. After leaving the Senate, Buckley was appointed by President Reagan as Undersecretary of State for International Security Affairs (where he succeeded Matthew Nimetz) and Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (where he was succeeded by John G. Roberts, Jr.). Moynihan had narrowly won the Democratic primary in a race which featured Continued on page 26
NEW YORK CIVIC
How Do We Get Better Leaders By HENRY J. STERN We are in the first days of fall in the year 2011. The political calendar has however raced ahead. We are in the midst of the 2012 Presidential campaign, and the 2013 Mayoral race is already under way. This acceleration of political competition is due in part to campaign finance laws, which require reporting of contributions far in advance of the election. Candidates are judged by the media and the public by the amount of money they have raised. It is therefore in the interest to collect as much as they can as soon as they can. A political action committee supporting women candidates calls itself “Emily’s List”, the acronym standing for ‘early money is like
yeast’, which means that it helps the cake rise, hopefully so people will donate when campaigns begin and encourage others to do the same. Gender-based organizations may encounter problems when two candidates with the same reproductive system seek the same office, but Emily’s List makes the selection process less burdensome by limiting its support to pro-choice Democrats. Under current law, there are political action committees for both major parties and for independents. Their ability to raise funds and donate to candidates may ultimately be determined by the Supreme Court of the United States. At present, there is some uncertainty as to the effect of the Citizens United decision of December 2010, which overturned
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NEW YORK CIVIC
How Do We Get Better Leaders Continued from page 25 three candidates from the party’s left wing: Congresswoman Bella Abzug, former City Council President Paul O’Dwyer and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Abe Hirschfeld, a garage magnate later imprisoned for the criminal solicitation of a hit man to kill his former business partner, ran fifth. After his release from prison, he ran again for the Senate. Under the New York State Election Law, political parties are required to nominate candidates before Primary Day. The minor parties, therefore, must make their choices before the major parties. The Liberal Party could not foresee who would win the Democratic primary for the Senate. The identity and philosophy of the Democratic nominee would be a major factor in determining whom the Liberals would choose. It was therefore necessary to select a candidate who could withdraw after the primary. The law provided only three paths to withdrawal: death of the candidate, moving out of the State of New York, or nomination for a judicial office. It was therefore desirable to nominate a lawyer, who would be able to depart from the
race honorably and safely if circumstances warranted a substitution. At that time, I was City Councilmember at Large from Manhattan, and the only elected Liberal in the state. I was asked to be the Senate candidate and, of course, accepted. When Pat Moynihan won the Senate primary, the Liberal Party found a candidate it could proudly support, and I was nominated by the party for the New York State Supreme Court, an office that had always been filled by major party nominees. What would have happened if Bella Abzug had defeated Moynihan is a question that will never be answered. Alex Rose, leader of the Liberal Party, died in December 1976. However, even if Ms. Abzug had received the Liberal nomination, she might have lost to Senator Buckley. Moynihan defeated Buckley by about 585,000 votes. He was considered a moderate liberal and appealed to a broader range of voters than Ms. Abzug. Of course, no one can be certain with regard to hypothetical contests. The determining event in that primary was the New York Times’ last-minute support for Moynihan, a decision made by publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger (not the present
WEIR ONLY HUMAN
Will Clinton Challenge Obama Next Year? By BOB WEIR Ever since Bill and Hillary Clinton stepped onto the national stage I was struck by their Machiavellian ambition for power. When he became embroiled in his first sex scandal during the race for the White House in 1992, one would have thought his presidential career was over before it had begun. Then, the country witnessed his wife on national television saying that people were telling lies about her husband. “I’m not some woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette,” she said, trying to save the philanderer whom she viewed as her key to political prominence. If she had told the voters what she already knew about Bill’s lascivious liaisons, his ambitions would have ended in Little Rock. But Hillary is not the type of woman who cares about such mundane matters as marital fidelity; she, like Bill, is a child of the “free love” era that dominated the 1960s. The pursuit of power is the aphrodisiac of choice for this ruthless pair of hucksters. After Bill’s 2 terms in the White House, they moved to New York, pulling a Bobby Kennedy type of carpetbagger caper, so Hillary could run for the US Senate.
The rest seemed easy. Hillary would be a shoo-in for president in 2008. However, as happens in some of the best laid plans, suddenly, the devious duo got hit with Hurricane Obama. The fact that this upstart community organizer from Illinois, with a mere 2 years in the Senate, could wrench the nomination away from a woman who felt she was the heir-apparent to the throne, seemed to indicate that the country had had enough of the Clintons. Begrudgingly, she accepted the Secretary of State position, while plotting the demise of the man who had robbed her of her place in history as the first woman Chief Executive, while securing his own place as the first African-American to achieve that lofty goal. Like something out of a Shakespearean tragedy, the Brutus and Cassius conspiracy began to chip away at the Caesar whom they felt an overwhelming compulsion to eliminate. They hid their vitriolic resentment well for almost 3 years, rejecting any notion that Obama should be challenged for the nomination in 2012. But now it seems the time is right to strike a blow for Hillary. While she appears to remain above it all, Bill is making noises
publisher, but his father) to over-rule the editorial board, which had supported Ms. Abzug. That was an extremely important choice, because Senator Moynihan, who had been U.S. Representative to the United Nations and had advised four Presidents (two Democrats and two Republicans) was re-elected three times and enjoyed an extraordinary reputation. Moynihan retired in 2000 and was succeeded by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who served until she resigned in 2009 to become Secretary of State. Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear. The other New York Senate seat was occupied successively by Jacob K. Javits, four terms, 1957-81; Alfonse D’Amato, three terms, 1981-99; and Charles E. Schumer, 1999 to the present. The seat Moynihan held was held, as we have noted by, James Buckley, Charles Goodell and Robert F. Kennedy, who defeated Kenneth Keating, a Rochester Republican congressman. FYI, years ago, New York was considered a Republican state. The governor in 1976 was the late Hugh Carey (Rockefeller had become Vice President under Ford). The state comptroller was Arthur Levitt, a Democrat who served from 1955 to 1978 (six four-year terms), longer than anyone else in the history of the office. The attorney
general was Louis J. Lefkowitz, a Republican, who also had the longest tenure in that position, 1957 to 1979 (five and one half terms). Lefkowitz succeeded Jacob Javits, also born on the Lower East Side, who resigned as AG when he was elected to the Senate in 1956. Do public officials today measure up to the standards of those of a generation or two ago? I think probably not. It is altogether possible that the bosses did a better job of choosing candidates for high office than the consultants and sloganeers who now manage political campaigns for hire. After all, Alfred E. Smith and the first Robert F. Wagner were plucked by Tammany Hall from the mediocracy of the state legislature. And are any boss-chosen governors comparable to Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson? We close with a memorable couplet by the satirical poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), who wrote in “An Essay on Man” in 1734: “For Forms of Government let fools contest; Whate’er is best administer’d is best.” Henry J. Stern writes as StarQuest. Direct email to him at mailto:StarQuest@NYCivic. org. Peruse Mr. Stern’s writing at New York Civic.
like a supporter of a new candidate. Recently, he took a shot at Obama’s jobs plan, calling it “confusing” and saying that the president and congress shouldn’t be raising taxes or cutting spending. The Clintons know that Obama’s hope for reelection is tied to the economy, so, they put those malevolent minds together and, not so subtly, undermined his desperation tactic. With a suspicious public watching the scenario unfold, Bill is asked if he would like his wife to be president. His response was that he has always believed she is one of the brightest people of her generation. Couple that with the recent poll that said Hillary is the most admired woman in America, and it’s easy to imagine the scenario being planned. There’s no doubt that the Clintons have a lot of ears on the ground in the Democrat Party, which is facing a scary election in 2012. If the president’s poll numbers are this low (or lower) by January, there will be many senators and congressmen worried about holding onto their seats. If they believe that Obama will hurt their chances, the pressure will be on him to bow out for the good of the party. In 1968, during the height of the Viet Nam War, LBJ, whose poll numbers were in the basement, told the nation that he would not be running for reelection. Could history repeat itself in 2012? One indication could be the recent comments by 2 of the Clintons’ most prominent strategists. James Carville and Mark Penn said Obama should learn from the
centrist policies Clinton embraced in 1996. In addition, during the BP oil spill, Carville was stridently critical of the president’s actions regarding the cleanup: “Man, you got to get down here and take control of this! Put somebody in charge of this thing and get this moving! We’re about to die down here!” Keep in mind that Hillary, as Secretary of State, serves at the pleasure of Obama. Her husband would not be attacking the central theme of Obama’s reelection strategy without her approval. Carville and Penn wouldn’t be criticizing Obama unless they got the nod from the former First Lady. While she keeps her skirts clean, exuding an air of nobility, she has others laying the groundwork for her ascension. These are crafty politicians who keep their eyes on the goal. Patience is not their strong suit, so, waiting for 2016 was never part of the plan. Bob Weir is a veteran of 20 years with the New York Police Dept. (NYPD), ten of which were performed in plainclothes undercover assignments. Bob began a writing career about 12 years ago and had his first book published in 1999. Bob went on to write and publish a total of seven novels, “Murder in Black and White,” “City to Die For,” “Powers that Be,” “Ruthie’s Kids,” “Deadly to Love,” “Short Stories of Life and Death,” and “Out of Sight.” He also became a syndicated columnist under the title “Weir Only Human.”
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
LEGAL NOTICES TRE FIGLI LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/30/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to C/O Patricia G. Micek, Esq. 2180 Boston Post Rd. Larchmont, NY 10538. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Z METRO POLLIS LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/24/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC P.O. Box 376 Great Neck, NY 11021. Purpose: Any lawful activity.. PUBLIC ADJUSTER DAILY LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/21/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process C/O United States Corporation Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Registered Agent: United States Corporation Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. Ste. 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 JSM VENTURES LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/27/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Joanna S. Moran 709 Warburton Ave. #8B Yonkers, NY 10701. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Evofit LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/05/2011. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him is Albert Maldonado, 280 Collins Ave Mount Vernon, NY 10552. Purpose of LLC: To engage in any lawful act or activity. Sitecompli LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/10/09. Office location: Westchester Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/12/08 SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Ross Goldenberg 116 Storer Ave New Rochelle, NY 10801. DE address of LLC: 1220 N. Market ST STE 808 Wilmington, DE 19801. Arts. Of Org. filed with DE Secy. of State, PO Box 898 Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity. ALL THROUGH THE TOWN, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/19/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 10 Union Ave, Ste 5 Lynbrook, NY 11563. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
229 Bedford-Banksville, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/28/11. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 229 Bedford-Banksville Road Bedford, NY 10506. Purpose: Any lawful activity. SUZANNE CALKINS, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 4/20/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process The LLC 18 Wildwood Circle Larchmont, NY 10538. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of formation of 339A North High Street LLC Articles of the organization were filed with the SSNY on 9/13/11. Office location WESTCHESTER COUNTY designated as agent of LLC whom process against may be served. SSNY shall mail process to LLC at POB 643 Bronx NEW YORK 10466. QUICK CASH PAWN USA LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 9/12/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process The LLC 2712 E. Tremont Ave. Bronx, NY 10461. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
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CLASSIFIED ADS REELWOMAN ASSETS, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/10/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process The LLC 57 Worthington Rd. White Plains, NY 10607. Purpose: Any lawful activity DENNING PROPERTIES, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/4/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process C/O Mr. Philip Denning 191 Beech St. Eastchester, NY 10709. Purpose: Any lawful activity. TLHM CONSULTING LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/2/2011. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process The LLC 15 Plymouth Rd. Chappaqua, NY 10514. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Office Space AvailablePrime Location, Yorktown Heights 1,000 Sq. Ft.: $1800. Contact Jaime: 914.632.1230 Deer Mngmnt seeks Lead Application Developer in Larchmont, NY to support analysis, design, impl & testing of new & existing bus systems & serve as lead programmer for custom app dev related areas incl software coding, database design, & report writing. Resumes to Deer Management Co LLC., ATTN: JAmbrosino, 1865 Palmer Avenue, Larchmont, NY 10538, Ref. job code: LAD-029. No calls/emails/faxes EOE. Prime Retail - Westchester County Best Location in Yorktown Heights 1100 Sq. Ft. Store $3100; 1266 Sq. Ft. store $2800 and 450 Sq. Ft. Store $1200. Suitable for any type of business. Contact Jaime: 914.632.1230
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The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, octoBER 6, 2011
www.westchesterguardian.com