Westchester Guardian by David Watterson

PRESORTED STANDARD PERMIT #3036 WHITE PLAINS NY

Vol. IV NO XLXXXII

Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Ejects Editor from Yonkers City Council Chamber Hezi Aris, Page 2 The Westchester Guardian Style Year in Review by Nancy King, Page 6; New Power Station by Abby Luby, Page 8; Ravishing the Waterways by Roger Witherspoon, Page 9; Mayor Marvin’s Column, Page 15; Message from Mayor Swiderski, Page 16; Resolve for 2011: If you Have Nothing Nice to Say...by Alisa Singer, Page 17; Ed Koch Movie Review, Page 19; The Six-Year Swindle by Henry Stern, Page 20; My Conversation with God by Bob Weir, Page 21; Sean Avery by Albert Caamano, Page 22; Wake Up Call by Gerald Celente, Page 23

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The Westchester Guardian

Of Significance Hezitorial......................................................................................2 Eye On Theatre............................................................................4 Books............................................................................................5 Commentary................................................................................6 Community..................................................................................7 Crime............................................................................................8 Economic Development..............................................................8 Energy Matters.............................................................................9 Government...............................................................................13 Humor........................................................................................17 Letters.........................................................................................18 Movie Reviews...........................................................................19 OpEd..........................................................................................20 Show Prep...................................................................................21 Spoof...........................................................................................22 Sports..........................................................................................22 Trends.........................................................................................23 Truth and Justice........................................................................24 Legal Notices..............................................................................26

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) 632-2540 News and Photos: (914) 632-2540 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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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

The Hezitorial, By Hezi Aris

Lesnick the Liar Ejects Editor from Yonkers City Council Chamber

advised he had The Open Meetings Law no right to ask (OML) permits media to for my identity attend meetings at which the and if he was so majority of the Yonkers City inquisitive, he Council, that is a minimum should ask anyone of four of the seven members in the Yonkers attend. Denying media City Council to attend such meetings Chambers at the strips media of their First time to ascertain Amendment rights, an issue who I was. He fought and recently won would go on to against Yonkers Mayor Phil explain that the Amicone by The Westchester meeting was in Guardian for which I am “fact” a course now its editor. This time it in “leadership was Yonkers City Council training” for President Chuck Lesnick those who would who chose to wear a brown attend and that I shirt to a meeting to which was not invited. he was uncomfortable having Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick’ I had nothing media in attendance. more to say, and It was before 4:00 pm, therefore said nothing. His word and his Tuesday afternoon, December 14, 2010, when. I credibility was unknown to me; besides made my way to the Yonkers City Council Chambers. Rocky Richard and President Lesnick As I entered the chambers, Rocky Richard, Yonkers had ascribed the soon to be gathered were City Council President Chuck Lesnick’s Chief of indeed attending a meeting. Staff who upon seeing me making my entrance into Some have noted another layer the chambers said the meeting was private and I was of complexity that defines the Open not invited. I advised the Opening Meeting Law Meeting Law is that a gathering of a permitted me the right to attend since at least four majority of council members must be a members of the Yonkers City Council were expected meeting officially noticed to the public. A to attend. As I was espousing my rights, I glanced valid point except for the fact that some beyond Ms Richard’s left shoulder to see a U-shaped government meetings in Yonkers are not set-up of tables and chairs upon which sat laptop officially noticed. A recent meeting of the computers and an 8 1/2” by 14” thick paper folded Yonkers Charter Revision Commission lengthwise in half, upon which city council people’s was requested to be noticed to the public names were affixed. She shrugged her shoulders, as a full day after it took place. How does she departed from where I stood, and said, “Whatever! one make the public notice after the fact. I found my place in the first pew, toward the center So much for decorum and protocol. aisle, placing my cell phone, pen, gloves, kafiyah, and jacket to my left, and began reading the latest edition The Yonkers Police Officer who sits of just published edition of The Westchester Guardian. at the northern entranceway to Yonkers Chuck Lesnick then came toward me. Upon City Hall was called to the fourth floor to reaching the wooden partition dividing us on oppoask me to step outside the City Council site sides of the railing, Mr Lesnick said I could not Chambers. I advised him that I was rightattend the meeting; adamant I was not invited. I fully within the law to attend. By that time, repeated that as long as a minimum of four members Yonkers City Council President Chuck of the Yonkers City Council membership would Lesnick had sat at the u-shaped dais, as come to attend, I had a right to attend the meeting. did Majority Leader Patricia McDow (1st He departed from my sight. District), attended by her furry white dog, Next, a gentleman whose last name I remember Councilmen Wilson Terrero (District 2), was “White,” asked for my identity. He wanted to and Dennis Shepherd (District 4). engage me in conversation. I was not having it. I

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

The Westchester Guardian

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HEZITORIAL Within 10 more minutes approximately 6 or as many as 8 more Yonkers Police Officers entered the chambers to demand my departure from the premises. I refused, advising the YPD I was abiding by the rights afforded me by the Open Meetings Law. I knew I was within my rights to attend. Then one officer, the one who engaged me in conversation and expostulation wanted to know why I was the only member of media in attendance. I advised that I am often the only one in attendance. I beseeched he request confirmation of my not being permitted attendance from the Yonkers City Council President Lesnick noting that he and the other city council members comprised a majority to which media is permitted attendance. I advised if Mr Lesnick advised I was illegally attending the meeting, I would depart. With great respect, the Police Officer said he would do just that but prior to being able to ask that question of Mr Lesnick, a much older officer got in my face and said it was Mr Lesnick who asked for my expulsion. I told that officer I was rightly permitted attendance by the Open Meetings Law.

He threatened to physically throw me out of the council chambers. I advised the officer that I would call Police Commissioner Hartnett. This statement so infuriated the older officer that he snatched my pen from my left hand. I had the impression he was aiming for my cell phone. A younger officer then insinuated himself into the confrontation advising if I did not depart the premises within one minute he would have me handcuffed and removed from the Yonkers City Council Chambers. Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick fomented every aspect of the escalating confrontation from afar by first lying about the “learning session” by calling and designating it a meeting. A meeting of four members of the Yonkers City Council membership permits media attendance. When “Lesnick the Liar” earlier had said that only three members of the Yonkers City Council membership would attend, he further engraved the coming together of members of the Yonkers City Council membership for official purpose who were doing so to attend a “meeting” to which the Open Meeting Law permits attendance by

media. “Lesnick the Liar” defiled the YPD by having them act upon a set of false circumstances he concocted to suit his needs of intimidation and to keep the public unaware that the Office of the Mayor was paying for the “leadership learning” session . No conflict of interest here. There may be a legal difference between a “learning session” attended by 4 or more members of the Yonkers City Council and a “meeting” of a majority of members. “Lesnick the Liar” muddied the issue by waffling, not the number one leadership trait desired, by morphing the term “meeting” into “learning session.” What is evident by this event, is that “Lesnick the Liar,” can and does concoct lies and foments trouble for anyone because he can. He is offended to be found out benefitting from another taxpayer paid perk at a time when the City of Yonkers can least afford to spend funds for his “learning on the job.” The course was meant to teach him and the others in attendance of the leadership skills to which he is not adept at grasping. “Lesnick the Liar” has again proved only to be adept at lurking behind closed doors to benefit himself, not to benefit The

People who pay the bills for his ineptitude. Anticipating the skullduggery afoot from the moment I met Ms Richard, I called two lawyers. The first was not available. The second was made aware of the circumstances as they unfurled . I did depart the Yonkers City Council Chambers and sat in the lobby until about 6:30 pm when I re-entered the Yonkers City Council Chambers, took my seat in the first pew and was glued to the meeting. It has been suggested that I permit myself to have been arrested to prove the point. Such action on my part might soothe the ego but jeopardize the financial well being of the City of Yonkers, and would promote the diminution of the YPD whom I respect and appreciate they were not familiar with the Open Meeting Law and that they were only misled by Lesnick the Liar. The issue reverts to Lesnick the Liar who finds my reporting antagonistic to his political survival. Councilman John Larkin (District 6), Minority Leader John Murtagh (District 5), and Councilwoman Joan Gronowski (District 3) did not attend the “meeting / learning session.”

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

EYE ON THEATRE

A Child’s Christmas in Wales

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2010

By John Simon Paul Feris, editor of Dylan Thomas’s letters, observes that A Child’s Christmas in Wales has probably “come to appeal to a wider audience than anything else Thomas wrote.” And why not? His rather surreal poetry is no easy reading, and his being also an outstanding fiction writer and playwright contributes to the excellence of this little memoir, which, by the way, is stylistically not all that different from his haunting poetry. So welcome The Irish Repertory Theatre’s concert reading of this work, profusely interlarded with appropriate songs to spirited piano accompaniment, as conceived and directed by Charlotte Moore, acclaimed actress and director, also artistic director of the IRT. With this show, she also proves an accomplished songwriter, having found words to four charmingly tuneful songs that fully match

those of the mighty Anonymous. The Theatrical Index, which lists goings-on in the theater, misprinted the title as “A Child’s Christmas in Whales.” While one knows of no child Jonah, this 75-minute entertainment is indeed a whale of a show, artfully blending traditional hymns and carols with songs by modern professionals. The set is a tasteful arrangement of colored-light-studded Christmas trees and wreaths before which five seasoned performers and the solid pianist John Bell work their holiday magic. Everything is winning: the musical numbers are as evergreen as the bejeweled trees, and the Thomas text so endearing as to make you intensely nostalgic about a childhood hardly your own. How readily we respond to its mischievous humor, ironyfilled family feelings, and sassily sparkling humanity. The five performers encompass a world in manifold miniature. Designed by

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.

Martin Vidnovic, Victoria Mallory, Simon Jones, musical director John Bell, Ashley Robinson and Kerry Conte.

David Toser, similar yet subtly individual red dresses adorn the mezzo-soprano Kerry Conte and soprano Victoria Mallory. The former looks, sounds and behaves like a maturely stylish society hostess, absorbing even occasional shocks into her polish and poise. The latter, a longtime leading Broadway ingénue as well as popular concert artist, seems blithely impervious of voice and visage to time’s encroachments. Britisher Simon Jones, veteran of performing all over his adopted country, wears a somewhat exotic blue dinner jacket and discreetly flowered maroon vest and bow tie. With owlish granny glasses and an expression midway between comic skepticism and genial condescension, he comes across as a dandified but dutiful English schoolmaster. A more powerful baritone is that of Martin Vidnovic, sporting impeccable black evening attire and exuding the staunch aspect and demeanor of the experienced Broadway leading man we cherished him as, now ever so slightly softened by the sediment of years. In the middle of this larks an engaging juvenile, the tenor Ashley Robinson, who somewhat resembles the young Dylan

Thomas, and assuredly embodies his pranksterish cheekiness and saucy humor. There is easeful singing from all, in which John Bell, the music director, sometimes modestly joins. You leave into the coldest December night armored in portable warmth. Feinstein’s at the Regency, named after the entertainer Michael Feinstein, offers his annual year-end show, this year called Swing in the Holidays. Feinstein gets a rousing twelve-piece band led by John Oddo, and three adept female backup singers—wittily named the Dreidelettes—reminding us that the holiday season is not just Christmas but also Chanukah. He has done bygone popular music yeoman’s service, having been Ira Gershwin’s voracious amanuensis, as well as having dug up forgotten but deserving songs to enrich the American Songbook—as seen recently on PBS in an excellent documentary. He sings and accompanies himself on the piano with expertise, and has performed all over America and beyond as evidenced by the audience response to his inquiry about their domiciles. Members of the packed house came from all over.

The Westchester Guardian

EYE ON THEATRE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

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BOOKS

To Fly or Not to Fly: That Is the Question

By Dr. Douglas A. Lonnstrom

Michael Feinstein, Swing in the Holidays, Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency

Not only does he perform some of our favorite standards and show tunes by such songwriters as Jerry Herman and Burton Lane—he does an especially winning rendition of Kay Thompson’s “Holiday Season” paired with “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” by the ever popular Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. There are times, however, when cabaret singing loses out to a fine actor/ singer. Compare Feinstein’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with Simon Jones’s in A Child’s Christmas. Where Feinstein at the piano gives his voice a rollercoaster ride, Jones, affectingly rather than affectedly, sings with a steady crispness supported by an almost subliminal smile. But on the other hand there are songs that thrive on Feinstein’s cabaret style and there are enough of those for an enjoyable evening. The program includes a jaunty mixture of perennials and novelties. “We Need a Little Christmas” from Mame, and “The Best Christmas of All” from Mrs. Santa Claus—and “For All We Know” paired with “I’ll Be Seeing You” and a Sinatra-inspired styling of “The Dreidel Song” are some examples. There’s even room for a change of pace as when the music director does a lilting piano solo of his composition “Rainbow Connection” made famous by Kermit the Frog. The show plays through December 30. May it set the tone for a joyous tunefilled holiday season for you and yours.

Photos by and courtesy of Carol Rosegg.

A Child’s Christmas in Wales The Irish Repertory Theatre 235 West 22nd Street (212) 255-0270 On line: www.irishrep.org

Swing in the Holidays Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency 540 Park Avenue (212) 339-4095 FeinsteinsAtTheRegency.com John Simon has written for over 50 years on 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 and Washington 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 JohnSimon-Uncensored. com website.

Commercial flying has seen some rough turbulence lately. Not like the good old days – last century – when flying was fun. It was an adventure. You could arrive at the airport a few minutes before your flight and get right on the plane. Airline personnel had a smile on their face and a warm greeting. Passenger was in a good mood and well dressed. Children, if there were any, were well behaved. Delays were rare and once underway you got free drinks and a meal depending on the length of the flight. Everyone was courteous. No more! Now you need to arrive at the airport 2-3 hours before your flight. You spend more time waiting than flying. Then there are the lines to check in, go thru security and get on the plane. To get thru security you have to remove your belt, shoes and jacket and maybe get a full body scan or a pat down. You may have to pay fees for bags or extra weight. You also have to worry about overbooking, delays, cancelled flights and missing connections. Once on the plane, small seats, no free drinks or meals. And, of course, you may sit on the taxi way for hours. Not a lot of fun. But wait. It’s not that bad. Here are five reasons to fly: It’s Fast. Certainly if you are traveling over 500 miles it’s not even a close call. It is far better to be flying along at 550 miles an hour at 30,000 than driving on the highway at 60 mph. The plane also goes in a straight line to its destination whereas the car has many twists and turns and must follow the road which was determined by terrain. The plane goes non-stop from airport to airport but the auto has to make

many stops for lights, tolls, fuel, rest areas, traffic and accidents, which sometimes ties you up for hours. Nothing is worse than sitting in a long line of cars, moving at 1 mph, waiting for an accident to clear. Buses are subject to the same problems as autos. Of course, there is the train, but on long trips not nearly as fast or efficient as the plane. However, on shorter trips, downtown to downtown, the train is a better alternative than the plane. France and Japan have bullet trains that do better than 200 mph, unfortunately we do not have that luxury. It’s Safe. Despite some high profile plane accidents air is still the safest way to travel. A plane crash that kills over a 100 people makes worldwide news and scares people. Even a small private plane accident that kills two makes the local news. Not only are planes the safest form of travel they are getting safer. Out of almost 11 million departures in recent years there were only 28 accidents involving large commercial planes. The death rate per million departures is only 0.2 while about 40,000 in the United States die in car crashes each year. And car accidents are up to do mobile phone distraction and drinking. Even train safety has declined. There have been more derailments, human errors, explosions and collapsed bridges. Interesting to note that as trains go faster they have more accidents. It’s Cheap. People are moaning about the high cost of flying but when compared to cars and trains for long distance the Continued on page 6

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The Westchester Guardian

BOOKS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

COMMENTARY

To Fly or Not to Fly: That Is the Question Continued from page 5 plane is actually much cheaper. A 1000+ mile trip on a plane might cost you several hundred dollars for the ticket but that is your main expense. If you go by car it will take several days and you need to factor in lodging, meals, tolls, fuel as well as the stress of driving. Even a train trip of that length will be more expensive. Of course, expense will vary with the number of people on the trip. A plane ticket for one is a lot less than tickets for four. The Alternatives. If you do not go by plane your choices are car, bus, train, or boat. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. For short trips planes do not offer many advantages but for overseas trips there really is no other option, you cannot drive or take a train. You could go by boat and that would be great fun if you have the time. Generally speaking airports are clean and safe whereas bus and train stations are often dirty and in some cases not in the best section of town. For longer trips your best option is the plane. It’s Relaxing. This may sound like a strange reason to fly but think about it. The greatest stress is worrying about all

the things that could go wrong and they generally don’t. If you expect everything to be perfect you are sure to be disappointed. The best advice is to expect the worst and then if something good happens you will feel good. So bring a good book or your laptop and relax, you will get there. Focus on how happy you will be when you get to your destination whether it is for business or pleasure. Despite all the stress of flying and there is considerable, it certainly beats the other choices for trips of long distance. Ideally, you’ll be able to fly non-stop since many of the stresses, delays and maintenance problems occur at the hubs -- that is where you make connections and the airlines make repairs. Just remember: when your plane is late, it is better to be waiting in a nice warm terminal than sitting for hours in traffic behind an accident or stuck in a snow storm. Dr. Douglas A. Lonnstrom is the author of “JFK Jr. - 10 Years After the Crash - A Pilot’s Perspective.” Visit him online at .www.lonnstrombooks.com/ .

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The Westchester Guardian Style Year in Review By Nancy King Well readers, it’s that time of year again when we reflect upon some of the more newsworthy stories that we’ve covered here at The Westchester Guardian and at our sister site, The Yonkers Tribune. So in the spirit of all that is nostalgic, we’re taking a look at Westchester county’s top news stories of 2010. At the top of our list and in the first month of the year, we had Rob Astorino take over the reins as Westchester County Executive. After twelve years of Democrat Andy Spano at the helm, the taxpayers of Westchester had finally decided that they’d had enough and voted him out. However, Mr. Astorino has had a difficulty year to say the least. He’s dealing with a contentious Board of Legislators who are hell bent on thwarting his every move. Last month, the Astorino administration presented their budget that revealed a 1% tax decrease. Ceremonial to be sure but it did include cutting some services and jobs. Less than a month later, the Board presented their own budget that reflected a 2% cut and restored many services and jobs. Once again that leaves Mr. Astorino no choice but to dust off the veto pen and start crossing items off the budget. What a ridiculous game of political posturing this has turned out to be. If these sort of shenanigans are what’s in store for Rob Astorino over the next four years, then I hope he has an industrial strength seat belt because he is in for quite a ride. Rob Astorino wasn’t the only elected official that has had a rough year. Newly elected White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley was arrested in February and charged with domestic violence. Over the last nine months, the Mayor has been re-arrested, charged with an ethics violation, had the longest misdemeanor trial in the history of the world, was found guilty in a split decision, and is currently going through a divorce. Sheesh, this guy has more problems than Job. His problems don’t stop there though. The White Plains Common Council is furiously trying to figure out a way to get this guy out of office. They’ve even gone so far as to launch a website calling for the mayor’s recall. Like most folks, I like a good juicy soap opera but in all honesty, I and I’m sure the rest of Westchester is getting tired of this story. Sadly enough, this case was

fraught with witness suppression and of course all the facts weren’t brought out in court. Hopefully on appeal, we’ll see a case that has a fair outcome to all parties. This might end up being one of the most interesting stories of 2011 if the drama in White Plains is allowed to continue. Lame duck Mayor Phil Amicone of Yonkers was found guilty in Federal Court of violating the constitutional rights of Sam Zherka, the publisher of the Westchester Guardian. While there never has been any love lost between these two men, a Federal Judge ruled in Mr. Zherka’s favor to the tune of eight million dollars. It seems that Mayor Amicone ordered DPW workers to remove and throw away the blue newspaper bins that The Guardian has placed on street corners all over the city. Clinching this case were pictures presented in court that clearly shows those DPW workers putting the bins in a garbage truck. Wowsers! You would think that a Mayor would have a better grasp on the constitutional rights of others. The first amendment and the right of free speech extends to even us here at the Guardian. This year has also heralded the arrival of the “Feds” in Westchester. Starting with Sandy Annabi, Zehy Jerais, Anthony Mangone, we’ve seen one politician after another fall from grace. Vinny Leibell will be doing some jail time and the word on the street is that he may have some company in federal prison. Maybe he and Mamaroneck’s Espada family can share a cell suite. Since we’re chatting it up about corruption, we’d be remiss not to mention Ridge Hill. Despite council members selling votes, developers getting kickbacks and The Town of Greenburgh crying that it will impact traffic on it’s border, its moving right ahead. Tenants are signing leases and the first stores are slated to open in 2011. Love it or hate, I’m happy that getting to Lord and Taylor will be super easy. On a much sadder note, October was witness to a college student who was fatally injured at the hands of two local police departments. Never mind that DJ Henry may have been drinking, that is still no excuse for shooting to kill. As previously noted, this may have been a case of two Continued on page 7

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

The Westchester Guardian

Page 7

COMMENTARY

The Westchester Guardian Style Year in Review Continued from page 6 police officers who mis-communicated with one another and as a result, a young man is dead. Let us hope that in 2011, the DA, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Pleasantville Police Department, the County Police Department and the State Police conduct a careful and thoughtful investigation. Even if their investigation reveals facts that are not favorable to one side or another, it’s just the facts which will ultimately give justice to this case. It must also be noted that it we hope that attorney’s for both sides don’t get mired in their

quest to be the last who slings the mud. The family of DJ Henry on those other Pace students deserve so much more. The above mentioned police departments weren’t the only departments making news this year. The Eastchester Police Department suspended without pay, Officer Ray Rosado after he filed an EEOC suit against the town. It is now December and there still hasn’t been a ruling as to whether Officer Rosado will receive his due process rights. I guess the Town of Eastchester is waiting for Santa. Or maybe the ghost of Christmas past is guiding

Supervisor Colavita and Police Chief Bonci on a journey of their transgressions. The Village of Sleepy Hollow suffered through their own Federal circus this summer. At a tremendous waste of taxpayer money, we learned that nothing good can come from a police department and town board when they are being controlled by the village attorney. For Christmas, I wish that when the ghost of Christmas past is finished in Eastchester, he goes north to Sleepy Hollow and takes the village attorney on her journey of transgression. Rounding out the year, we end with

the tragic death of two firefighters in Tarrytown on Labor Day. After lots of maneuvering by the town to indemnify themselves from any responsibility in the deaths of Anthony Ruggerio and John Kelly, its been revealed in court that the town was indeed culpable for their deaths. Note to Messrs. Fixell and Blau, no amount of covering up will prevent the truth from being told. All in all, its been a year of highs and lows, and good and bad. We remain hopeful for 2011, that we have a cleaner, more truthful Westchester.

COMMUNITY

2010 Christmas Message: Have Patience and Hope By Peggy Godfrey The message of Christmas gives us all hope for the future and for a new year. Fair minded people want peace and also hope for a better world.. The hymns ring out everywhere and the stores of full of shoppers. But again this year manly

JOB 9-249Christians and others all over the people have suffered job losses and finan9.324 cial setbacks. Some families can not even X 4.5787 world will pause and reflect on the impact afford a festive meal orWESTCHESTER have any kind of ofGUARDIAN a tiny baby’s birth. Born in a stable he celebration. There are military personnel came to bring “right and justice” to the who will not be able to celebrate with earth. With so many problems in the their family and friends. world, including wars, men dying and the

economy creating fear in people today, Dr. Charles A. Rizzo, M.S., Deacon at Blessed Sacrament Church in New Rochelle, reminds us that Christmas is a celebration of hope. Continued on page 8

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Page 8

The Westchester Guardian

COMMUNITY

2010 Christmas Message: Have Patience and Hope Continued from page 7 People should have patience, hope and more important, a strengthening of their faith in God. “Nothing happens here with God knowing it,”’ he said, “and our faith can help us handle these conflicts: the economy, war and tensions among people. We must have patience and continue our prayer which is the only thing that will give us hope for the future.” Let this glorious holiday be an assurance to all of us that Christmas is a time of good will toward all men. Remember the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us everyone.” Merry Christmas. Peggy Godfrey is a freelance writer, a community activist, and former educator.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

CRIME

Message from the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson Police Chief Armed Bank Robbery in Hastings Friday, December 17, 2010 By David Bloomer On Friday, December 17th, 2010 at about 8:46am, the Hastings on Hudson Police Department received a call reporting that the Chase Bank at 565 Warburton Ave was being robbed. A second caller stated that the male robbing the bank was armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle. The Hastings on Hudson Police Department responded and secured a perimeter and searched the immediate area. Additional units from the Village of Dobbs Ferry Police Dept, the Westchester County Police Department, the Metro North Police Department and the F.B.I. responded to assist. The suspect fled out of the bank and west on Spring St. He was last seen near the intersection of Spring and the Steinschneider Parking Lot. The suspect is described as a male black, wearing a camouflage jacket, ski mask, goggles and had what appeared to be an assault rifle.

No injuries were reported, and the suspect fled with approximately $18,000 in cash. A search of the area was conducted with canine units from the Westchester County Police Department and Metro North Police Department. The Westchester County Police also provided their aviation

unit. The searches were negative. At this time the investigation is continuing with the F.B.I., and anyone with information is asked to call the Hastings on Hudson Police Department at (914) 478-2344. David Bloomer is the Chief of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

New Power Station Slated for Yonkers By Abby Luby

Yonkers city administrators have given the nod for the construction of a new power converter station that will transmit 1,000-megawatts of electricity from Canada to New York City. The site of the proposed station is near the MetroNorth rail lines and Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. on Wells Avenue. The converter station is part of the Champlain-Hudson Power Express (CHPE) – a $4 billion project that will run a 355 mile, direct-current transmission line from Canada to New York City. Most of the cable will be run under the Hudson River. The project is fully funded by the Toronto-based Transmission Developers Inc. (TDI). The Yonkers converter station will cost up to $200 million and will house semiconductor arc valves, transformers and other equipment. The 23,000-square foot station will be an LEED-certified “green building” with an “environmentally responsible design.” A separate building will contain administrative offices and a security checkpoint. The office will house some 12 to 15 legal, accounting and administrative staff to manage business operations. Permanent security and plant personnel will be on site as well. The project could create approximately 140 construction jobs. Groundbreaking for the station is planned for the fall of 2011. TDI is heavily funded by private investors such as the New York investment magnate BlackRock and other

deep pocketed firms. The total project, which will carry up to 2,000 megawatts of hydroelectric and wind energy to the metropolitan area, is expected to be completed in 2015. Last week the Yonkers IDA unanimously passed a resolution to negotiate an economic incentive package with TDI. “A final resolution will be voted on in the spring,” said Ellen Lynch, president and CEO of the IDA. “A public hearing will be scheduled in the next couple of months.” According to a statement issued by the Yonkers IDA, the plant is expected to generate significant new revenue for Yonkers through a long-term full property tax agreement. An incentive plan could include a full tax agreement, a mortgage recording tax exemption and a sales and use tax exemption. Following a public hearing, a final resolution on the project must come back to the Yonkers IDA board for approval. In a prepared statement Mayor Phil Amicone, who is also the chairman of the IDA, said “We will work with CHPE and TDI to create a fair agreement so this project can move forward.” Donald Jessome, president and CEO of TDI said both Lynch and Amicone “have been very positive about the project and we are currently working with Amicone on a community benefits package.” Jessome refused to elaborate on the details of the package. Jessome also said that TDI expects to pay “a multiple of millions of dollars a year in property taxes to the city of Yonkers.” Continued on page 9

The Westchester Guardian

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

New Power Station Slated for Yonkers

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Page 9

ENERGY MATTERS

Ravishing the Waterways: DEC vs The Power Companies By Roger Witherspoon

Continued from page 8 TDI will be leasing the property from Joe Cotter, owner if i.park. “We will have a 40 year lease with an option to extend it for another 40 years,” said Jessome. TDI will actually run two submarine or underground cable systems that will each have the ability to transmit 1,000 megawatts. Several regulatory requirements are already underway such as filing an environmental impact statement with the Department of Energy and an application has been submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission. Lynch said that TDI will also have to comply with codes stipulated by the Yonkers Building and Planning departments. Although the converter station is being hailed as renewable energy that could eventually drop electricity rates, the environmental group Riverkeeper has some concerns. In an August, 2010 letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (http://www.riverkeeper.org/wp-content/ uploads/2010/08/Riverkeeper-CvrLtrScoping-Comment-DOE-Docket-PP362-August2_2010.pdf ), Riverkeeper said that burying a high voltage cable in the bed of the Hudson River could disturb sensitive fish and wildlife habitat. Of particular concern are the high levels of contaminated sediment that would be unsettled when digging up the river bed to bury the cable. “We are very concerned about what will happen with contaminants that are mobilized when they are installing the cable,” said Riverkeeper staff attorney

Josh Verleun, the lead for the CHPE project for Riverkeeper. “There has never been a submarine cable project that has been installed in a river such as the Hudson with this quantity of contaminated sediments.” Riverkeeper cited such contaminants such as PCBs, (Polychlorinated biphenyls), heavy metals (copper, cadmium, etc.), hydrocarbons, petroleum, and radionuclides that attach to the sediment such as strontium-90 and cesium-137. Riverkeeper stated that they were concerned that the contaminated sediments could have an adversarial effect on aquatic organisms and local drinking water supplies. They also asked the DE to look at the impact of ambient heat that could encourage leaching of contaminants from the sediment, and whether the heat will affect aquatic life living in the soft sea bottom. The electro- electro-magnetic fields that will be generated by the cable can also negatively effects aquatic species, said Riverkeeper. If the project passes muster with all federal and environmental agencies, Jessome said the overall economic benefit to New Yorkers would be a significantly lower cost in power. “Through our property taxes and jobs, residents of the City of Yonkers will also benefit,” he said. Abby Luby is a Westchester based, freelance journalist who writes about current, local news, environmental issues, art, entertainment and food. She teaches writing and literature at Marist College.

Hope Creek Salem Nuclear Plant

In an unprecedented move, the environmental agencies of New Jersey and New York have begun forcing scores of their largest water users to either retrofit their plants with modern cooling systems which won’t kill billions of fish annually or cease operating. Environmental analysts in the two states have found that these facilities kill more than 20 billion juvenile and mature fish annually in New York and another nine billion in New Jersey. These operations have had a negative impact on a variety of fish, including the endangered Atlantic Sturgeon which returns to the Hudson River to spawn and sea turtles in the Delaware River which were sucked into the cooling systems at the Salem Nuclear Generating Station. Even more alarming is the finding by the National Marine Fisheries Service ( http://www.rogerwitherspoon.com/ docs/nmfs-eisfor1p23-10-10.pdf ) that the “once through cooling systems” are vacuuming up trillions of newly hatched fish – those under a half inches in length – and destroying them in their heat exchangers. The NMFS directly challenged the finding by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the damage to the aquatic environment is “moderate”, and asserted there is “strong evidence” that the decline in fish stocks along the

entire northeast Atlantic seaboard is due more to the destruction of baby fish than to over fishing of adults. The scale of the destruction can be seen in the NRC’s environmental assessment of the twin Indian Point nuclear plants in Buchanan, 30 miles north of Manhattan in the heart of the Hudson River tidal estuary. In determining that the overall impact on essential fish habitat is “small to moderate” the agency noted approvingly that new screens installed in front of the 40-foot-wide intake pipes in 1984 had reduced the destruction of baby fish between 1984 and 1991 by 187 Billion per year to its present rate of just 300 Billion newly hatched fish. ( http:// www.rogerwitherspoon.com/docs/nrcfinalipieis-part2-12-10.pdf ) “The NMFS does not reach all of the same conclusions as the NRC with respect to adverse effects that relicensing IP2 and IP3 would have on the fishery resources and their habitats,” Peter Colosi, the agency’s assistant northeast regional administrator, wrote in an acerbic analysis of the impacts of the Hudson River nuclear plants. “Given the immense natural productive potential of the Hudson River Estuary,” Colosi continued, “and taking consideration the staggering numbers of Continued on page 10

Page 10

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

ENERGY MATTERS

Ravishing the Waterways: DEC vs The Power Companies Continued from page 9 organisms that are lost directly, indirectly, and cumulatively through continued operation of electric generating stations that continue to use once-through cooling techno logy in the Mid-Hudson, the NMFS suggests that the current Indian Point relicensing process is an appropriate and opportune time to apply the Clean Water Act.” But the efforts by the two state environmental agencies to enforce the discharge provisions of the Clean Water Act have drawn fierce resistance from companies opposed to spending billions of dollars to change their money-saving practice of freely using public waterways. On Thursday, Exelon Corp, operator of the nations’ largest nuclear power fleet, made good on its longstanding threat to close the 636-Megawatt, Oyster Creek nuclear power plant rather than install a

Indian Point Nuclear Plant

closed cycle system. In New York, Entergy Nuclear, which owns the Indian Point plants, has been spending millions of dollars on media campaigns and lobbying

against what they claim is a politically motivated “fish vs. jobs” issue. Ironically, the NRC assessment states that five year construction project would provide some

2,300 direct jobs, making it one of the region’s largest employment projects. The drive, by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, involves nine New Jersey plants at seven power company sites and more than 40 New York electric generating plants ( http:// www.rogerwitherspoon.com/viewer/ vwnukegrphc14.html – including most of the region’s nuclear power facilities – and large manufacturers such as cement makers and a 100-year-old Yonkers subsidiary of Dominoes Sugar. http:// www.rogerwitherspoon.com/viewer/ vwnukegrphc15.html ). New Jersey’s efforts to force compliance involve four plant sites operated by PSEG – ranging from the twin reactors at the Salem Nuclear Generating Station, which use 3 billion gallons of water daily, to the Sewaren natural gas plant using 540 million gallons daily; as well as plants operated by Exelon, RC Cape May Holdings, and Conectiv. New York has destructive plants throughout the state, but the biggest impacts are created by the gauntlet of power plants along the Long Island Sound and the lower Hudson River which kill fish by the trillions as the migrate up to 200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to spawning sites along the Hudson River. Because of the economic and political clout these types of firms possess, no other states have moved to force some 550 companies using similar “once through cooling systems” to comply with the dictates of the federal Clean Water Act. Indeed, the most destructive power plant in New York State is the coal and oil Northport Power Station in Suffolk County, along the north shore of Long Island Sound. That plant alone sucks more than 9.5 billion mature fish into its system annually, according to the state’s DEC. And though this wholesale vacuuming of migrating fish has a negative impact on the important recreational and commercial fishing operations, County Executive Steve Levy refused several requests to discuss the subject. Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has continually ducked the issue, though their own analysis concluded that these plants collectively kill more than one trillion fish annually and disrupt their local aquatic ecosystems with their hot water discharges. On Nov. 22, the EPA settled a federal court suit brought by Riverkeeper and agreed to set Continued on page 11

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Page 11

ENERGY MATTERS

Ravishing the Waterways: DEC vs The Power Companies Delaware Riverkeeper, New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, and Scenic Hudson; and nuclear industry groups including Entergy Corp. and PSEG Nuclear. But two federal courts – U.S. Circuit Court before then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor in 2004, and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 – held that there was no substitute for complying with the Clean Water Act. The EPA, then headed by Stephen Johnson, declined to come up with new regulations and the Obama EPA – now headed by former NJ

Indian Point Nuclear Plant

Hope Creek Cooling Tower

Continued from page 10 regulations for the nation’s power plants and manufacturers using once through cooling by the end of March, 2011. “You cannot take the amount of fish, small fry, larvae and eggs that Indian Point does from the estuary without having a Paul Gallay. major effect on the ecological health of the Hudson River,” said Riverkeeper Director Paul Gallay. An analysis of the river’s stocks prepared in 2008, he said, “showed nine out of 13 of the most significant species of fish in the Hudson River are in significant decline. That details some of the potential ways Indian Point being contributes to this overwhelming decline in the health and numbers of these species.”

Wedge Wire Wars During the Bush Administration, the EPA sought to allow polluters such as the Salem Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay and the Indian Point Energy Center on the Hudson River to continue killing billions of fish annually as long as they applied “mitigating” measures. ( http://www.rogerwitherspoon.com/ docs/2nduscircuit-riverkeeperentergyvepa-1-07.pdf ) Those provisions were challenged in a federal suit in 2004 by a coalition of states, including New York and New Jersey; and environmental groups, including Hackensack, Hudson River and

IP Thermal Plume

DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson – has continually pushed back projected dates for issuing new draft regulations. Officials now say draft rules may be released by the end of the year. Entergy’s current publicity campaign contends that closed cycle cooling systems are unnecessary and the problem with fish kills can be eliminated by installing more tight-mesh wedge wire screens. While that is the company’s public position, they have actually gone to court to successfully prove that wedge wire screens are not designed for high-flow systems like nuclear power plants and should never be considered for nuclear plant use. ( http://www.rogerwitherspoon.com/docs/

entergybriefentergyvepa1-07.pdf ). Entergy contended in a suit against the EPA filed in 2005 in the Second U.S Circuit Court of Appeals that wedge wire screens were designed for systems in still waters with flows of less than 100 million gallons daily – not the two to three billion gallons used daily by nuclear plants. At that time, Entergy argued that the EPA’s proposed rule allowing the use of wedge wire “rests in all respects on sales talk… discussions between EPA’s contractor and sales representatives from two companies that manufacture these screens. “No law allows a key regulatory assumption to be based on a sales pitch Continued on page 12

Page 12

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

ENERGY MATTERS

Ravishing the Waterways: DEC vs The Power Companies Continued from page 11 by a randomly selected self-interested vendor.” The environmental agencies of both states have rejected the use of wedge wire screens as ineffective. “We didn’t really consider wedge wire,” said Susan Rosenwinkel, the project manager and principal environmental engineer for New Jersey’s DEP. “Our position is in order for the science to work wedge wire needs a freshwater environment, and a draw of less than 100 million gallons per day, and the intake velocity rate must be less than 0.5 feet per second. The velocity of water coming into the nuclear plants is about 1 foot per second and they use 2 billion gallons of water a day.”

The Need to Chill Cooling systems are vital to power generation, particularly those of nuclear plants. In a nuclear plant operation ( http://www.rogerwitherspoon.com/ viewer/vwnukegrphc11.html ) there are a series of three heat exchanging loops of water. The first is water superheated to more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit within the reactor and cycled through thin metal tubes in a steam generator and then back into the reactor. The second contains relatively uncontaminated water which flows over the metal tubes containing the reactor water and, through this contact, is heated to about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. It is kept liquid under pressure and then flows through pipes towards the giant turbines. There, the pressurized hot water is released and flashes to steam which blows over the 40-ton turbine blades and makes

it spin. The spinning turbine runs the generator which makes electricity. After the steam passes the turbine, it flows over a third loop of pipes containing cold water from the river, and that contact causes the steam to condense back to a liquid. It can then be pumped back to the steam generator to repeat the process. The water in the third loop which was used to cool the steam is then dumped back into the river – but 30 degrees hotter than before. This thermal pollution forms a barrier which alters the aquatic balance, changes the habitat for fish, plants, and parasites, and causes fatal heat shock in billions of passing fish. The heat dumped into the waterway is tremendous, particularly at nuclear sites. The thermal discharge at PSEG’s, coal powered, Mercer Generating Station in Hamilton, for example, dumps about 1.5 billion BTUs of heat into the waterway, according to company records. The nuclear power plants at Salem, however, dump about 30 billion BTUS of heat hourly into waterway. That is the equivalent of the heat which would be generated by exploding a nuclear bomb, the Nancy Wittenberg size of the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima, in the waters of Barnegat Bay every two hours, all day, every day. It is for that reason that the states have required plants to go to closed cycle cooling systems. “We don’t mandate a particular technology,” said Nancy Wittenberg,

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assistant commissioner for New Jersey’s climate and environmental management programs. “We just mandate a measure of production. Hope Creek nuclear plant has a cooling tower, while the two Salem nuclear plants do not. “Whether they build a cooling tower or use another closed cycle system is their decision, as long as it meets our objectives. There are a variety of systems, ranging from mechanical draft – which resembles a three story radiator and is used at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant – to the massive cooling towers used at the Hope Creek plants. New York’s DEP specifically recommends the mechanical draft type of system to retrofit on existing plants. Entergy’s public contention that the DEC is ordering the installation of cooling towers at Indian Point is false. Chuck Nieder, a biologist and head of the DEC Steam Electric Unit and author of the state’s assessment, noted that while cooling towers are the most effective and would eliminate 98% to 100% of the fish mortality, the mechanical draft systems may be more cost effective for existing plants and would still reduce the mortality to an acceptable 95 percent level and are successfully used at the Nine Mile Point nuclear station. In addition Nieder said an analysis of fiscal data provided by Entergy showed that cooling towers – the most expensive option – would cost $1.5 billion to construct and operate over the 20 year life cycle, but that amounts to only 5.9% of Entergy’s projected profit of $24.5 billion and is not unreasonable. Riverkeeper attorney Reed Super said “cooling towers are more expensive than the mechanical draft6 and take a lot more land. If they were mandated state wide they would reduce fish kills by 100 percent, whereas the mechanical draft would eliminate only 95%

“There comes a point of diminishing returns, where you are spending a lot of money for that last 5%. The DEC is right to recommend that for brand new facilities, but just as correct to recommend mechanical draft for retrofitting existing ones.” In New Jersey, the DEP analysis found that The Salem nuclear plants are killing more than 3 billion fish annually. For the past 20 years, the company has developed and maintained an extensive wetlands restoration site designed to foster spawning of and safe development of Barnegat Bay aquatic life. But that program has been deemed ineffective by the state DEP and challenged on other grounds by the New Jersey Environmental Jane Nogaki Federation. “The wetlands were taken over by invasive phragmites,” said Federation vice chair Jane Nogaki. “Restoring wetlands, while admirable, will not bring back the annual loss of fish that occurs year after year. We don’t think you can take three billion fish a year out of the system and not have an impact on the health of the estuary. “And in the process of restoring wetlands, PSEG has introduced over 22,000 pounds of the herbicide glyphosate into the estuary in an attempt to control the phragmites. They have been performing annual herbicide applications in Lower Alloways Creek wetlands for 15 years, and that is certainly not a sustainable effort.”

Dueling Federal Agencies The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is at odds with both state agencies. Their environmental assessment of Essential Fish Habitat for the Indian Point, Oyster Continued on page 13

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Page 13

ENERGY MATTERS

Ravishing the Waterways: DEC vs The Power Companies Continued from page 12 Creek, and Salem nuclear plants found that the impacts were â&#x20AC;&#x153;moderateâ&#x20AC;? and there were no environmental impediments to continuing the once-through operations for another 20 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a cozy relationship between the NRC and the nuclear industry,â&#x20AC;? said New York Congressman Eliot Engel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They always belittle very serious difficulties.â&#x20AC;? According to the NRC, the difference between their assessment and that of the state environmental agencies and the National Marine Fisheries Service is that they are not really evaluating the same systems and impacts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you talk about essential fish habitat we are not really talking about the animals,â&#x20AC;? said NRC biologist Dennis Logan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You are talking about the habitat

the fish live in. It is a separate and distinct question from looking at the fish populations themselves. Some species are adversely affected and some are not affected at all. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Essential fish habitat looks at the changes in the habitat. The fish stock that goes through, that came in as fish and died or were removed from the system by going through the power plant and are no longer available as food or recreation are another matter. It is not a direct impact on the habitat.â&#x20AC;? And Drew Stuyvenberg, the NRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environmental project manager and coordinator of assessments in the division of license renewal, said â&#x20AC;&#x153;a lot of those fish

are anchovies, and there are a lot of anchovies in the Hudson River and they produce a lot of eggs. The standard we look at is whether the impacts are so great that the power plant could not remain operating as a choice for decision makers. The test is, are those impacts outside the impacts of other alternatives to licensing?â&#x20AC;? But Colosi of the National Marine Fisheries Service was critical of the NRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach which, he said, looked at a â&#x20AC;&#x153;variety of predominantly physical impacts that the NRC dismisses based upon prior experience at other nuclear plants.â&#x20AC;? He contended that Stuyvenbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

assessment that altered current patterns around the massive intake and discharge pipes â&#x20AC;&#x153;have not been found to be a problem at operating nuclear power plantsâ&#x20AC;? is wrong. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Given the large volumes of water consumed at Indian Point each day and the relatively narrow configuration of the Hudson River, it seems plausible that under full operation, the plant could induce noticeable changes in the current regime or induce changes in the local erosion and accretion rates that have unintended adverse effects such as losses of submerged aquatic vegetation, chronic disturbances that discourage settlement of tiny prey items, and similar effects. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our regulations compel us to assume the worst case scenario, that the effluent is creating a barrier to migrating fishes and other unacceptable environmental conditions.â&#x20AC;? -- Roger Witherspoon writes Energy Matters at www.RogerWitherspoon.com

GOVERNMENT

Senator Klein Engages in Frivolous Expenditures as He Calls for Federal Cutbacks By Bary Alyssa Johnson

Eastchester, NY -- State Senator Jeffrey Klein (D-NY), who granted a significant amount of money to sponsor cooking classes in collaboration with the Westchester Italian Cultural Center (WICC), made a public appearance at the last class of the season on Monday, December 13th. Klein, with cooperation from the WICC, offered local residents an opportunity to take part in a series of classes through the 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Tavolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Cooking Program. A Tavola, an Italian phrase meaning â&#x20AC;&#x153;come and eat!â&#x20AC;? is exactly what a diverse group of the senatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constituents did under the tutelage of acclaimed Chef Andrea Tiberi. Klein, a staunch critic of unnecessary government spending, did not hesitate to offer a mind-blowing, state-sponsored $50,000 grant to make available this series of culinary entertainment and education. Klein spared no expense in order to treat his local residents to the cooking courses taught by world-renowned kitchen prodigy

Andrea Tiberi. Tiberi, an ambassador of Italian cuisine, was raised in the old country and promotes his culinary expertise worldwide. Among his impressive accolades, Tiberi was honored as Guest Chef to the Italian Embassyâ&#x20AC;Śtwice! In addition, he has cooked for both The Holy See (Pope) and the President of Italy. Participants in the last class of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Tavolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Program prepared a menu of Lasagna Alle Verdure (vegetable lasagna) with a side of vegetarian salad served in a freshly made Grana Padano homemade cheese basket. Tiberiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students all left the building where the shindig was held with bellies full of food and personal preprepared portions of the finest lasagne Italy has to offer. The classes were held within the posh interior of the Generoso Pope Foundation Building in Tuckahoe, NY. The aforementioned foundation is the benefactor of and co-founded the WICC and houses the center in its luxurious interior, which more closely resembled a top-notch hotel than the headquarters of a philanthropic organization.

In what relates to an interesting twist of fate, the President of the Generoso Foundation is extremely public in stating his personal, passionate feelings about the need to offer all children equal and adequate access to a first rate education.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every child deserves a safe environment to grow up in and a quality education,â&#x20AC;? President David Anthony Pope says on the Foundation Web site. Continuing on in a semi-hypocritical twist, Klein seems to be at odds with the Continued on page 14

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Page 14

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

GOVERNMENT

Senator Klein Engages in Frivolous Expenditures as He Calls for Federal Cutbacks Continued from page 13 tenets of the foundation In opposition, Klein has placed childhood education remarkably low on his list of political priorities for the coming year. Indeed, he told The Westchester Guardian in an interview that his #1 priority is property tax relief. He plans on achieving this goal by seizing monetary funds that had been put aside for the education budget. “Tax relief is something we need to get done,” Klein said. “And I don’t think it’s wrong to ask the school districts to work within a tighter budget in order to deal with tax relief.” With both education and property tax issues in dire straits, it would likely have been a wise and more fiscally responsible move to invest the $50,000 extracurricular culinary expenditure in said crucial areas

of concern affecting the 325,000 people that the senator represents in Westchester County and The Bronx. Ironically, Klein rationalizes his own financial expenditures while at the same time chastising the federal government for acting equally inefficiently and irresponsibly in the face of its financial concerns. “Another priority of mine is seeing how the government can be more efficient…with budget cutbacks and potential budget cuts,” Klein continued. “The first place to start is with government bureaucracies. The time of giving agencies a blank check will have to end.” Klein’s last order of business for 2011 is ethics reform and his pending legislation to establish an ethics committee. While condemning government spending

he simultaneously grants a significant amount of money to sponsor free WICC cooking courses in a community wealthy enough to fund its own just-for-fun activities. “The way it works, senators and assemblymen sit in judgment of their colleagues and that doesn’t work,” Klein said. “We need an independent ethics review board.” We are all well aware of the old adage “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” though Klein seems unaware that he himself sits in judgment of the ethics of government spending, while conveniently ignoring his own habit of scrupulous expenditures, which are worthy of a separate review of his own financial ethics. Regardless, Klein says he maintains a love for his country and state, and

describes the United States of America as the greatest democracy that has ever existed. However, after the past election he says there is a need to regain voter trust and his answer to that is, as you might guess, offering tax relief and cutting back on government spending. “We need to do this all in a bi-partisan fashion…people are tired of Republicans vs. Democrats and would prefer to see us work together,” Klein said. “They want to see results and they don’t care how it’s done.” Local resident Bary Alyssa Johnson covers Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Rye, and Rye Brook, as well as the evolving world of electronics and technology.

Assemblyman Lentol Commends Advances in Videotaping of Custodial Interrogation Brooklyn, NY -- Assemblyman Joe Lentol has been a longtime advocate of videotaping of custodial interrogations by District Attorneys and law enforcement and was pleased to see the advances made this week in the field. “I really feel like this is a tool whose time has come,” said Lentol noting that a number of upstate counties have started videotaping many interrogations especially in felony cases. “I am so proud to sponsor the Bar Association legislation in this area but I also feel that since so many different groups are doing their own independent work that we should be examining that work and making sure that we learn from everyone,” added Lentol. Assemblyman Lentol’s comments come in the wake of the District Attorneys in Broome, Greene, Schenectady, and Westchester Counties, and, more recently

Franklin County, all implementing video recording of custodial interrogation. The NYPD is also implementing a pilot program. “I want to thank all of these DAs and counties for thinking outside the box and bringing this technology into their interrogation rooms. In a day and age where any kid on the street can use their camera phone to video tape their friends, there is no reason for us not to be video taping such crucial pieces of evidence as interrogations and confessions, especially in felony cases,” said Assemblyman Lentol. Assemblyman Lentol sponsors a bill that would expand videotaping of custodial interrogation throughout the state. “These programs have been highly successful. They protect police officers from false claims of wrongdoing, they prevent wrongful conviction and make the entire judicial system more transparent,” said Lentol. “Although change 914.426.0359 can be difficult, it is my understanding that once ... for beginners these programs are up and • Get Fit running the police and • Build Self-Conﬁdence • Self Defense lawyers involved feel that the video recording system Join Our Classes Now Men,Women, Children belmars.com protects them and they 5 PROSPECT AVE. • GROUND FL. • WHITE PLAINS would never want to go

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back to a system without video recording. “It also serves the important cause of preventing wrongful conviction, which although we hope is very rare, we know

that there have been about a dozen cases of exonerated individuals in our state who confessed after long interrogations to rapes and murders they did not commit,” said Lentol. “This can help avoid those rare times or those few bad apples.” Assemblyman Lentol also commended the District Attorney’s Association for writing up best practices for videotaping which can serve as guidelines to be followed by law enforcement. “I look forward to learning from everyone’s experiences with the guidelines, with the work that everyone has done and with the ongoing pilot programs. There is much work left to be done, but I am thrilled that so much attention is being paid to this issue and that we are expanding videotaping of custodial interrogations in this state. Everyone should be very proud of their commitment to this issue.” concluded Lentol.

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Page 15

GOVERNMENT

Lowey Announces $204,418 Grant for Eastchester Fire Department Federal Grant to Be Used to Update Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced the Eastchester Fire Department will receive $204,418 in federal funding to update equipment, helping to keep firefighters safe while working in smoke-filled or otherwise toxic environments. “First responders serve their communities by responding to emergencies and helping those in need of assistance,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “It is our responsibility to ensure they have the equipment

MAYOR Marvin COLUMN

and training they need to help keep us – and themselves – safe. I am pleased the Department of Homeland Security is addressing this need in Westchester County.” Lowey is a senior member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. The Eastchester Fire Department will use the funding to replace Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SCBA), which allow firefighters to breathe in smokefilled environments. The entire cache of air packs is old and requires updating, with some dating back to 1981. The new

SCBA packs feature individual face piece regulators, radio tracking systems, and a visual display allowing the firefighter to assess remaining air supply. “We are so very appreciative for the assistance of Congresswoman Lowey and others in receiving this fire grant,” said Assistant Chief Ralph Stupple. “This grant will help enhance the safety of firefighters and of our community. In these harsh economic times, all government agencies face challenges, and Eastchester Fire Department is no exception. Without the assistance of AFG, we would be less able to update our equipment, keeping

GOVERNMENT

Unsung Heroes By Mary C. Marvin At this season of giving it reminds me of the many groups around the Village that are unsung heroes as to their quiet generosity to those in need. One such group is the Bronxville Senior Citizens. Despite needing help themselves, in some situations, the seniors have been unfailingly generous and mindful of the needs of others. At this time of year, the seniors are collecting “Presents for Patients” for the residents of the Mount Vernon Service Center which is a nearby group home. In conjunction with the American Red Cross, they have written and sent 75 cards to our servicemen and women stationed around the world. In just the past two winter seasons, the Seniors have collected over 200 pairs of mittens for the children in the Eastchester Community Action afterschool program. But their generosity also extends year round. There is an on-going partnership with the Community Services Association to collect cereal for a breakfast program in Mount Vernon. Over 150 boxes have been shared with those in need of a healthy breakfast. In less than two years, our seniors have donated more than $2,000 to the Hearts to Home program which sends phone calling cards to those in the military so they can connect with home while serving overseas. Our senior group started in 1974 as a not-for-profit organization to provide

firefighters and the public safe.” The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, which is administered by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Grants and Training in coordination with the U.S. Fire Administration, awards grants directly to fire departments and EMS agencies. Funds may be used to increase the effectiveness of firefighting operations, firefighter health and safety programs, emergency medical service programs, fire prevention and safety programs, and to purchase new fire equipment.

services and programs within the 10708 zip code area with a philosophy based on the premise that aging is just a normal developmental process and people at any age benefit from a group of peers to interact with and share advice. The seniors have an office in Village Hall staffed by Director, Sue Tozzi, who is a licensed social worker. She is also assisted by a social work intern from Concordia College. Membership contribution, which is not mandatory, is $50 per year exclusive of lunches and trips. The lion’s share of the funding needed is provided by the Community Fund with additional funding from the Village of Bronxville. The Senior Citizens Council also raises funds through an annual solicitation letter and a Parking Space Raffle, made possible by the donation of the Village. The Senior Citizens Council, which sends the solicitation letter, is a community-based volunteer group of concerned and interested area residents whose mission is to generate funds and initiatives for the seniors and oversee the operations of the Bronxville Senior Citizens organization. Currently, Jean Yankus is the chairwoman of the Council. Disappointingly though, no other municipalities contribute to the maintenance of the program, despite two-thirds of the membership living outside of the Village. Grants from New York State also help cover the funding for the non-resident members.

Wearing her social worker hat, Senior Director Sue Tozzi, LMSW, makes home visits to seniors to evaluate their living situation and refers seniors to programs such as Meals-on-Wheels 10708, senior housing or Paratransit when appropriate. Sue also organizes an annual Health Fair and free flu shot distribution in conjunction with The Lawrence Hospital Center. All residents of Bronxville over the age of 60 are entitled and encouraged to contact Sue with any issue involving senior-related issues – whether a member of the Bronxville Senior Citizens or not. This is a unique service that the Village provides to senior Bronxville residents. The senior organization tries to interface with other existing Village entities to forge relationships that will help our elder population. Three new initiatives have recently begun under our new Director’s aegis. Our Village Library now works with Meals-on-Wheels 10708 to have books delivered to our seniors who request reading material as well as a hot meal and the seniors and our police department are working on a program to check up on and identify seniors in need of a little extra help. The American Red Cross and our Director are enlisting interested seniors to sign-up for the Red Cross Friendly Calls Program. A Red Cross worker would phone seniors on the day of their choice to check in and have a conversation.

The Bronxville Senior Citizens program also provides food for the mind as well as the body organizing Tai Chi and exercise classes and programs ranging from computer and Bridge lessons, to courses on the Constitution and the Opera. Every Tuesday meeting has an element of brain food with a speaker at every gathering on topics ranging from Africa and astronomy to Pocahontas and Senior Safety. Special trips have included visits to the Hayden Planetarium, Boscobel, Yankee Stadium and the New York Historical Museum. Monthly luncheons are catered and seniors are treated to various entertainers. The Reformed Church very generously offers Congregational Hall to our seniors to make many of these lessons and meetings possible. Our Library staff also works very closely with the seniors to facilitate their space needs. These types of activities are so important because they allow seniors to get together with folks of like interests at locations that would otherwise be difficult to visit on their own. Regardless of one’s economic condition later in life, every study points to loneliness, isolation and lack of mental stimulation as major downsides of the aging process. The over-85 age group is the fastest growing segment of our population today. The Bronxville Senior Citizens and the Senior Citizens Council seek to work with – not for – the seniors, strengthening their independence while building needed inter-dependencies. Mary C. Marvin is the Mayor of the Village of Bronxville.

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Government

Message from the Mayor

Christmas Blessing, Christmas Charity, Christmas Shopping By Peter Swiderski

With Christmas before us, I wanted to mention a public event, various charitable opportunities, and a reminder that much of your Christmas shopping can be done right here in Hastings:

Blessing of the Nativity The Christian churches of Hastings are jointly sponsoring a Blessing of the Crèche this Saturday at 6PM at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, located downtown. All are welcome to attend this brief and simple ceremony that celebrates the Sacred in this season.

Christmas Charity Most of us enjoy a warm home and food on the table. But not all. Several of our local churches are organizing various collections that help to address the needs of those less fortunate. Please consider donating to those in need in this season that celebrates giving. Hastings has a proud Christmas tradition of caring for local children. From World War I on, any Hastings child who wrote a letter to Santa Claus was rewarded by the generosity of Colonel and Mrs. Frederick Zinsser. They lived where Zinsser Park is now and also owned a factory on the south end of the waterfront. The Zinssers sent their household staff into New York City to collect the special wrapped purchases which Mrs. Zinsser personally gave to each child. You can continue this tradition by giving in the toy drives and other charitable causes mentioned below: • Grace Episcopal Church is hosting a collection for Fessende House for men who are recovering from substance abuse and a Special Food collection for the Youth Advocate Office of Hastings at the Community Center. • North Yonkers Community Church is sponsoring a Toy Drive on December 22nd and 23rd, with toys donated to the Salvation Army,. • Saint Matthew Catholic Church is holding weekly a Food Collections for the Youth Advocate Office which cares for the needy of Hastings, a Monthly Food Collection for the Parish of Saint Peter’s in Yonkers and an Annual Toy Collection for the needy of Saint Peter’s, Yonkers. Additionally, the church is holding an Annual Mitten, Hat and Glove Collection for the Children of Saint Francis, Mount Kisco on Dec 19. (The latest efforts are available at the village website: http://www.hastingsgov.org/ Pages/HastingsNY_Documents/01666F56-000F8513 , and if you would like to add a local church’s efforts, please write me directly at mayor@hastingsgov.org and I’ll be pleased to update this listing.)

Christmas Shopping Indeed, Christmas is a season of giving and what better place to buy those gifts then in your own village! Please find attached and on the Village website (http://www.hastingsgov.org/Pages/HastingsNY_Documents/01666F44-000F8513 ) a single-page guide to the many opportunities for gift buying downtown. Print it out, look it over, and I think you’ll be as surprised at how much of your list you can cover in a single visit downtown. No shipping charges. No Central Avenue madness. The parking’s even free at this time of the year. Keep your money in town and your blood pressure down by shopping locally. (There’s also a local artists crafts market downtown on Saturday from 9AM to 2PM at the Community Center, giving you even more reason to go do your shopping.) All the best in this happy season, Peter Swiderski is the Mayor of the village of Hastings-on-Hudson. Direct email to mayor@ hastingsgov.org.

Mayoral Statement Regarding The Mount Vernon Public Library By Clinton I. Young, Jr. “With the rumors circulating about the possible closure of the Mount Vernon Public Library at year’s end, it is important to reiterate my position on the status and continued operation of this important and historic institution. I have consistently been loud and clear in saying that my administration is fully committed to the success of the library. Not only is it the Central Library in the Westchester Library System, but it is historically significant in that it is the last remaining Carnegie funded library and it plays a very important role in the lives of so many of our citizens. Today’s challenging economic conditions should be no surprise to the administration or the board of the Mount Vernon Public Library. Since the very beginning of my tenure as Mayor, I have met many times with each of those parties and have indicated to them that their total dependency upon city funding cannot continue and that they must make a greater effort to secure grant funding. It is quite clear that the library has failed in its commitment to pursue other revenue sources. The proposed 2011 municipal budget allocates $3.5 million to the operation of the library, which causes me to question the wisdom and intention of any rumored decision to close the library on January 1, 2011. With $3.5 million

budgeted for 2011, wouldn’t it serve the best interests of our citizens to remain open while all involved parties look to find funding solutions that would not only keep the doors open but also help the library to reach new heights? In the proposed 2011 budget, as well as the 2010 budget, every city department has suffered significant reductions to their operating budget and, unfortunately, the library is no exception. It is also important to highlight the very unique governance issue regarding the Mount Vernon Public Library. The Board of Education, an entity completely separate from city government, has the responsibility of selecting the library trustees who oversee the operations of the library. However, the city is responsible for funding the library’s budget with absolutely no say in how that institution is run. This must change. Again, I reiterate my commitment to library’s success and my continued willingness to work with the Board of Trustees and the administration of the Mount Vernon Public Library to find solutions that would allow the library to thrive as an institution.” Clinton I. Young, Jr. is the Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon, NY.

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Page 17

HUMOR

Resolve for 2011: If you Have Nothing Nice to Say... By Alisa Singer The other morning I made a ruckus trying to get my chronically late teenager up in time for school. She pleaded for “just another ten minutes” but I yelled, screamed and threatened waterboarding until I got her up and into the bathroom. But when she hadn’t surfaced a half hour later I peeked in to find her curled up on the floor of the shower, sleeping, or pretending to sleep. She was going to get those extra ten minutes one way or another. My daughter was treating me to a taste of passive aggressive behavior; better said, she was treating herself, because passive aggression is not only one of the most underrated tools in our arsenal, it’s also one of the most satisfying. (More about that later.) So what exactly is passive aggressive behavior? It’s best described as a statement or act that appears on the surface to be innocent or even sweet, but is actually motivated by hostility, containing a hidden barb of some sort - a sugarcoated pill with a really bad aftertaste. This compliment, for example, from a slim woman to a heavy one: “How brave of you to wear leggings!” It’s the kind of behavior that characterizes the so-called “mean girls”. So, mean girls, mean women, how did we get to be that way? After all, evolutionary psychologists tell us we’re programmed to be pleasers. When the cavemen went off to hunt, the women stayed behind to care for the kids, bonding together in the face of danger and finding safety in numbers. They had little choice – a woman fleeing from a saber-tooth tiger with an infant hanging from her breast and a toddler in tow was not likely to achieve a personal best for the 400 meter run. Exclusion from the protection of the clan posed an existential threat – you could starve or be eaten by predators so the cave women learned to get along,

spritzing each other with oxytocin and becoming BFFs. And they learned to express anger in safe, subtle ways. Since the outright expression of hostility was dangerous, passive aggression was born to fill the gap between mute compliance and rebellion. My family recently presented me with yet another excellent example of passive aggression. (Apparently we are very good at this.) My mother had just learned that she had been excuded from the birthday party of Joan, a member of her social circle. Truth be told, she was not overly fond of Joan and, in fact, rather disliked her. Nonetheless, she felt snubbed. I was with my mom when she first heard about this and as she mulled over the situation. After a while she announced: “I think I”ll get her a nice present.” On the surface this would appear to be a generous impulse. However, knowing my mother, this was not a selfless gesture but the stroke of a master manipulator. She could have opted for direct, honest confrontation, but that

would have been potentially disruptive to the balance of relationships. Equally important, it would have all been over too soon. Woody Allen once described a debate he and his wife had about whether to use their savings to take a nice vacation or to get a divorce. They opted for the divorce, reasoning that a vacation is over in a week, but a divorce is something you’ll always have. Open aggression is like a nice vacation – momentarily satisfying but then, you know, it’s over and you’re left with a hefty bill. But the pleasures of passive aggression go on and on. To illustrate, the scenario between my mother and Joan might play out like this: My mother would pretend not to know about the party and send a thoughtful gift. First, she would enjoy imagining Joan’s discomfort upon receiving the present. Then, Joan would call and thank her, feeling obliged to extend an invite to the party, thereby allowing my mom the further joy of turning her down with all the sweet insincerity she could muster. Or the plot might thicken. Joan could send a

thank you note but fail to proffer the expected invitation. Then my mother would have to wonder - was Joan “on to her” and retaliating in kind, or was she the rare woman that was simply immune to guilt and other devious tactics? Either way, the game promised to be highly entertaining. But here we are in the 21st century and it’s fair to ask the question: Why are we still afraid to openly express our negative feelings? The saber-tooth tigers are long gone. A third of the country is obese so there appears to be plenty of food. And the men, well not the hunters they used to be, are they. So maybe we should resolve for 2011 and beyond: “If we have nothing nice to say, … we’ll just come right out and say it! “ But this, like all New Year’s resolutions, is destined to fail because straightforward and honest aggression is just not as much fun as the insidious kind, the kind that has delighted and amused women since long before the Pleistocene era. And who are we to tamper with such a time-honored tradition? So for 2011 lets resolve instead: “If we have nothing nice to say, we’ll just say something that sounds really nice.“ And by the way, what an adorable dress you’ve got on! I admired it so much last week when my sister’s housekeeper wore it. Artwork by and courtesy of Alisa Singer. Alisa Singer’s humorous essays have appeared in a variety of print and online newspapers and magazines across the country and in Canada. She is the author of various gift books designed to entertain and amuse baby boomers. Her newest book, “When a Girl Goes From Bobby Sox to Compression Stockings…she gets a little cranky,” is available at www. Lulu.com. You can learn more about her work by visiting her website: www. AlisaSinger.com or by directing email to her at ASingerAuthor@gmail.com.

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the Editor Conduct Set by Open Meetings Law To the Editor: On November 30, 2010 a joint committee of the Town and Village of Ossining attempted to meet in order to carry out the people’s business with regard to Court Consolidation. It is anticipated that Court Consolidation will save the taxpayers money and therefore reduce taxes. Unfortunately, this process was brought to a grinding halt by one self absorbed politician, Town Councilman Peter Tripodi, who unexpectedly, willfully and purposefully attempted to force his way into the meeting in direct violation of the New York State Open Meetings Law. Mr. Tripodi’s grandstanding reached epic proportions when, upon being asked to leave the meeting, and clearly taping the exchange on a hand held recording device, repeatedly asked “Are you throwing me out? I don’t understand how this violates the open meetings law!” This is an issue which Mr. Tripodi is well aware of, and has been the subject of numerous conversations. That he does not understand the Open Meetings Law after a year in office, or clearly does not care about violating it, is very disturbing. This meeting was of a working group of committee members consisting of two elected officials from the Town and Village, and legal counsel. The makeup of this work group was decided on by both the Town and Village Board, and specifically designated two members from each board so that the New York State Open Meetings Law was not violated. In fact, Mr. Tripodi himself voted for the creation of this committee, and voted for someone other than himself to be on that committee. In these meetings, salient facts concerning the operations of the Court are presented by various Court employees and Court function is discussed. The committee also acts in an advisory fashion when, at the end of their work, they present various proposals and findings to the respective Boards

The editor welcomes and shamelessly solicits your perspective. Let everyone know what is on your mind. 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.

in open, televised and public meetings where they are weighed. Additionally, on occasion, specific Court personnel and their functions are discussed. Due to this fact, and because the Boards do not want potentially incorrect information to be made public before it’s accuracy is verified, these meetings are not the type that can or should be open to the public. Government meetings must be held with certain legal formalities. The NYS OML clearly states that when a “public body” meets, it must be open to the public, and be advertised in advance. The law states that a government body is a “public body” when public business is conducted, and a quorum is present in this case three voting members of a municipal board. In that circumstance, failure to advertise the meeting and open it to the public is a violation of the law. We take that law seriously. That Councilman Tripodi either does not understand the law, or willfully chooses to ignore it is very troubling. Supervisor Catherine Borgia Councilman Michael Tawil Ossining, NY

The No Vote To A Tax Cut To the Editor: On December 14, 2010, the majority of the Town Board adopted the 2011 Budget, giving all Ossining taxpayers a much needed tax cut. In some areas of the Town, this tax cut is as much as 8%. Unfortunately, one board member, Peter Tripodi, voted NO to the tax cut. As the majority of the town board, we deplore Mr Tripodi’s decision to deny taxpayers property tax relief, particularly since his justifications are based on untrue and misleading information Mr. Tripodi, in a prepared statement that he did not share with the Board and did not read in its entirety, but which he asked to have placed in the meeting minutes, attempted to explain his no vote, by leveling multiple mistruths, half truths, and blatant errors regarding the Town’s finances and the budget. Almost

as disturbing as his no vote to the tax cut, was Mr. Tripodi’s lack of understanding about the issues which he raised, and his seeming complete willingness to repeat factually incorrect statements whose errors have been repeatedly explained to him. Particularly, the budget restores a pay cut that elected and appointed staff took last year. Mr. Tripodi stated that he believes that since the federal government has proposed to freeze salaries this year, we should not restore the salaries that were cut last year. Moreover, he falsely states that the increases budgeted for this class of employees is higher than for union employees, when it is in fact lower than for all union employees. He also failed to mention that Supervisor Borgia moved the money allocated for her 2% raise into the Veterans’ budget line, used to support the Veterans’ parades, memorials, grave markers, and other commemorative activities. That Mr. Tripodi deliberately fails to mention that these elected and appointed employees voluntarily took a 3% pay cut in 2010 only demonstrates his disdain for truth and accuracy and his lack of respect for employees who willingly sacrificed for the good of Town taxpayers. Mr. Tripodi also made an untrue statement when he said the Veteran’s budget had been cut in the 2011 budget. Mr. Tripodi was at several meetings when it was clearly explained that the 2011 budget was exactly the same as in 2010, not reduced as Tripodi has repeatedly stated. We find it ironic that Mr. Tripodi voted against funding the annual 4th of July celebration, but now seeks to waive the patriotic flag by ‘standing up’ for veterans. He is also painfully aware that the Veterans budget is almost fully restored to the 2009 funding levels by way of a donation made by the Supervisor from her partial salary restoration – to which Mr. Tripodi is also opposed. Further, the Town is working with a pro bono fundraiser to increase funding to our Town’s excellent Veteran’s organizations, which could possibly even

exceed their prior funding levels through donations. In a further possibly un-ethical attempt to create chaos and disharmony, Mr. Tripodi made a statement intended to subvert amicable contract negotiations with our unions by stating that the union should be ‘angry’ about the Town’s bargaining position. This behavior is clearly not in the Town’s best interest as we are in continuing negotiations with the union. This act by Mr. Tripodi is contrary to the oath he swore when taking office to serve the interests of the taxpayers of the Town of Ossining, by attempting to disrupt the smooth running of the Town government in this manner, and publicly commenting on ongoing union negotiations. Finally, Mr. Tripodi once again made the allegation that we are allowing the towns real property to sit ‘empty’ (referring to the Town Police facility on North State Road) while we pay rent for office space at 16 Croton Avenue. As our police chief has explained many times in public meetings, it is premature to use the police facility for any other purposes. The Police building is still currently a police facility and will continue to be used as such in 2011. A building occupied by 13 police officers is not “empty,” by any definition. Explain as he tries, Mr. Tripodi – someone who falsely claims to be looking out for the tax payers – can not change the fact that he voted against your tax cut. The actions and positions he takes are misleading to the public and in some instances completely false. His vote is against the interests of the Town’s taxpayers and we consider it appalling and unfortunate. Very truly yours, Catherine Borgia, Town Supervisor Councilmember Geoffrey Harter Councilmember Michael Tawil Councilmember Northern Wilcher

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

The Westchester Guardian

Page 19

MOVIE REVIEWS

Ed Koch Movie Reviews By Edward I. Koch

Movie Review: “The Tourist” (-)

The television commercials and movie trailers for this film were superb, and I always see movies in which Johnny Depp appears. I truly admire him as an actor, although I disagree with his politics. Someday I’ll resolve how much I have to disagree with an artist before I stop going to see his/her artistic endeavors, but that’s for another day. Take it from me. This movie is all hype and no substance. I saw it on opening night, and the theater was only two-thirds full. It always amazes me how sophisticated New York audiences are. They won’t be conned into paying to see an advertised blockbuster that appears to have a ludicrous script. Elise Clifton Ward (Angelina Jolie) is in great danger of being killed by a Russian criminal, Reginald Shaw (Steven Berkoff ), who has been defrauded of millions of dollars by her lover (Alexander Pearce) who is on the run. We don’t meet her criminal boyfriend until the movie concludes. In addition to being pursued by the Russians, Elise is also trying to avoid Scotland Yard which believes she can lead them to her lover who has not paid an income tax on the money he stole from Shaw. The movie takes us from Paris to Venice. During a train ride Elise meets a tourist, Frank Tupelo ( Johnny Depp), a math teacher from Wisconsin and entangles him in her efforts to avoid the Russians and Scotland Yard. The always beautifully dressed Elise is very stoic and stouthearted when a knife is held to her voluptuous lips by Shaw who threatens to disfigure her if she doesn’t help him recover his money. The film doesn’t work because the script is so preposterous. I suppose the lush locales and beautiful scenes of Paris and Venice are intended to stifle questions from the audience, but they don’t. The picture does not provide a modicum of pleasure and is a total waste of time. Interestingly, this is the second recent James-Bond type film in which Jolie has appeared and failed to adequately pull off. Henry Stern said: “I was surprised to read Mayor Koch’s review, because I liked the movie. Of course the plot was preposterous, the setting is just a showcase for the performers. The movie is a lot cheaper than going to Paris and Venice on beautiful days, and riding speedboats in the canals. The combination of the beautiful Ms. Jolie and the relatively ordinary looking guy was a novelty. Depp plays the schlemiel who gradually acquires mojo. “Where would the movies be without the Russian mafia and Scotland Yard? Watch them play rough in this film. No sex, no nudity, no profanity. Great scenery and cinematography. The Tourist will not be on Top Ten lists, but it has its moments, and is more amusing that Salt, a similar vehicle. Angelina Jolie is no Jane Fonda, although both their fathers were actors.” Check out videos of these and other reviews on my website, Mayor at the Movies ( www.mayorkoch.com.) website. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter! Let him know your thoughts by directing email to eikoch@bryancave.com. The Honorable Edward Irving Koch served New York City as its 105th Mayor from 1978 to 1989.

MUSIC SCENE

THE SOUNDS OFBLUE By Bob Putignano

The Best of Soul Train DVD Time Life “For Soul Train Fans Only”

Soul Train, hosted by producer Don Cornelius got its humble beginnings around 1971 focusing on black music, and continued on till ’06. The vast majority of the material collected here is from the 1970s. The line-up is star-studded featuring the likes of James Brown, Aretha, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Sly and the Family

Stone, The Jackson 5, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, and many others. Some artists perform live, but far too many others waltz through their appearances in the less than desirable and boring lipsynch fashion. The difference in the power of the performances is (needless to say) very noticeable. One of the most memorable live performances is when Aretha

plays piano and is joined by Smokey Robinson for a delectable duet of his “Ooo Baby Baby.” Unfortunately all three Marvin Gaye’s segments are lipsynched. Note: It would have been more appropriate if the liner notes made references as to which performances were live, and which segments were lip-synched, especially considering how much material

(over three hours) is included. Where’s my remote? Soul Train was well known for its dancers who pranced and gyrated alongside the stars, era fashion statements are obvious and generational. There are hilarious segments where the dancers are allowed to ask the performers questions, most of which are quite lame, not pertinent, and offer little to enhance these odd segments. What were the producers thinking? The sound quality is definitely below par, and the video is for the most part awful. I know Cornelius had a big afro, Continued on page 21

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

NEW YORK CIVIC

The Six-Year Swindle: How Did a Rogue Agency Escape Detection So Long? By Henry J. Stern

Swift action followed yesterday’s report of the indictment of six people accused of an $80 million fraud against the City of New York. You can read the U.S. Attorney’s office and Department of Investigation’s joint press release on the federal indictment here. To get the full indictment, call either telephone number at the top of the release. The Daily News, which has been reporting for over a year on CityTime and its derelictions, ran a story on p5 today, written by Greg B. Smith, Juan Gonzalez and Adam Lisberg, City Hall bureau chief. The headline: CITY EXEC IN CHARGE OF OVERSEEING PROJECT IS SUSPENDED. The lede: “Investigators probing the massive CityTime payroll scandal seized $850,000 in cash yesterday from safe deposit boxes linked to consultants accused of stealing $80 million. “One of the six defendants even showed up at a Long Island bank with a large duffel bag but was turned away, a source told the Daily News.” The Times reported on City Hall’s response to the indictments in a story today by David W. Chen and John Eligon, spread across the top of A30, the first page of metropolitan news. Their lede: “The official in charge of the New York City agency at the heart of the $80 million information technology fraud scheme was suspended on Thursday without pay by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Comptroller John C. Liu. “The official, Joel Bondy, was chosen by Mr. Bloomberg to be the executive director of the Office of Payroll Administration in April 2004. But the payroll agency has been repeatedly criticized for its handling of the CityTime project, an automated system designed to streamline employee timekeeping, which has been dogged by delays and enormous cost overruns.

“On Wednesday, Federal prosecutors accused several CityTime consultants - at least one of them a longtime associate of Mr. Bondy - of being involved in a scheme that manipulated the city into steering expensive contracts to businesses that they controlled and of redirecting some of that money for their own enrichment. But the scandal has become one of the most serious that the Bloomberg administration has faced. And by casting a pall over an initiative that the mayor had championed as a hallmark of efficient, computerized management, the case also shines a harsh light on the administration’s outsourcing practices.” The Post covered the bank incident in an article on p10: ‘TIME BANDIT’ BEAT TO BANK: Payroll-Scam Probers get to $850G First, by David Seifman and Chuck Bennett. The Post’s lede: “Now that’s timing. “A defendant in the $80 million CityTime payroll office scandal arrived at a bank with a large duffel bag yesterday to clear out money allegedly stolen from city taxpayers - but investigators got to it first, officials said. “Department of Investigation officers seized $850,000 in cash stored in secret safety-deposit boxes just before one of the defendants in the criminalfraud case sought to cash out, said DOI spokeswoman Diane Struzzi. ... “Joel Bondy, the hapless bureaucrat in charge of the CityTime fiasco, was suspended yesterday while the city abruptly halted payments to embattled contractor Spherion - Bondy’s old employer. “His suspension without pay is a first step to termination, sources said. “Bondy, the $205,180-a-year executive director of the Office of Payroll Administration, was seemingly asleep as allegedly corrupt ‘quality assurance’ contractors brazenly looted taxpayer coffers with sham corporations. “’Any violation of the public’s trust is categorically unacceptable, and we are implementing a series of changes

to reform oversight of the CityTime project,’ said Mayor Bloomberg.” The Post ran a harsh editorial on p32, IT’S MIKE’S MESS. The Post is generally supportive of the mayor, but this editorial alludes to grievances that may have accumulated over time. One thing overlooked on Day One was the significant role of the City’s Department of Investigation in exposing the fraud. US Attorney Preet Bhahara said: “I want to praise Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn and her DOI team for their exceptionally quick and diligent work in this matter. Working with our partners, we will continue to ferret out public corruption and prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law.” Commissioner Hearn said: “The shame is that a project to save time and money on the City payroll fell prey in part to the accused swindlers who cost the taxpayers a stunning $80 million and counting. The supposed experts hired and paid well to protect the city’s interests were exposed as the fox guarding the hen house, secretly pocketing millions and purchasing expensive homes and cars, it is charged. Ironically, when CityTime’s hand scanners got in their way, they even resorted to fudging paper timesheets, according to the Complaint. “DOI investigators methodically followed the money to reveal the deception and end the shell game. DOI and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York continue to investigate this brazen scheme and are committed to pursuing this case to its just conclusion.” One person who deserves great credit for his work on this case is Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News. A sad aspect of this case is how long his repeated warnings, published in the News, were not acted upon. Councilmember Letitia James of Brooklyn held hearings on the subject, but her complaints may or may not have reached Speaker Christine Quinn, the public official to whom the administration is most likely to be responsive.

There should be an inquiry into the city’s handling of this fraud during the six-year period over which the conspiracy is said to have operated. Also, why did not other employees of OPA complain about what was happening around them? No inquiry, however, should disrupt or delay the vigorous prosecution of the alleged perpetrators. We should also remember that this not the first time that honest people have been duped by unprincipled swindlers. What is unusual here is the period of years over which the fraud occurred, its magnitude, and the apparent complete lack of oversight over Joel Bondy and the OPA. Similar events have occurred in prior administrations, where honest mayors are betrayed by corrupt subordinates, of whose very existence they were barely aware. Part of the problem here may be that since OPA was a two-headed agency, responsible to both the Mayor and the Comptroller, neither provided the close supervision that now appears to have been badly needed. Another aspect of the case is that since the project itself was opposed by the unions who had no interest in accurate timekeeping, critics of the contract may have been dismissed as naysayers, even though they were right about the contract. We also learn the lesson again that it doesn’t matter how many oversight agencies exist, the system often relies on individuals being honest and doing their jobs responsibly. When people lack integrity, the cost can exceed even the $80 million which is reportedly missing. As an individual and a taxpayer, I would want those convicted to remain in prison until all the money is returned. They stole from all of us. The perpetrators should receive plenty of time to make the acquaintance of Mr. Madoff, with whom they could trade notes. Their enablers should consider less demanding employment. Henry J. Stern writes as StarQuest. Direct email to him at StarQuest@NYCivic.org. Peruse Mr. Stern’s writing at New York Civic.

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WEIR ONLY HUMAN

My Conversation with God By Bob Weir I was sitting alone in my room the other day and I had a talk with God. Me: “God, why is there so much strife in the world?” God: “My son, I programmed my children to be complex beings beset by challenges and struggles which would strengthen them and force them to work out the problems of their existence in order that they be worthy of their complexity.” Me: “But, why did you make us to be so belligerent toward each other? Couldn’t you have simply made us love each other?” God: “Love is inherent in all my children, but its value must be

MUSIC

The Best of Soul Train DVD Time Life Continued from page 19 but all too often his head was cut off, and throughout the performances (including the dancers) these lengthy discs video photography is less than desirable and lacks professionalism. It was kind of cool that Time Life did not edit out some of the commercials, in fact there are quite of a few that made the cut, so I had fun reviewing those Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen ads. Additionally, there are over three hours of bonus features presenting modern-day interviews with Don Cornelius, Smokey Robinson, Jody Watley and Clarence Avant, and several others talking about the show. Some of these segments are humorous, but for the most part- not memorable or special. The Best of Soul Train is available from Time Life as a single-disc, threedisc, and (can you believe?) a nine-disc set. The three-disc set was made available for this review. Boogie down, choo-choo! Bob Putignano is host of WFDU’s Sounds of Blue, www.SoundsofBlue.com the most pledged to program for three consecutive years

discovered and appreciated. Otherwise, it would be taken for granted and ignored like an abundance of toys in the hands of a spoiled child. Love, like life, must be earned through suffering.” Me: “With all the power in the universe, you could, with a wave of your hand, make everyone deliriously happy. Why should we have to deal with any sadness?” God: “Without the experience of sadness, you would not appreciate happiness. Without the knowledge of pain, you couldn’t understand pleasure. Food is most satisfying when you are at your hungriest.” Me: “Then, what you’re saying is, we should expect life to be difficult, because if it were simple, we would all be spoiled and unappreciative.” God: “Even more, you’d not know if you were happy because you’d have nothing to compare it to. Without hunger, how would you know when to eat?” Me: “Well, what about our physical forms? If you had made us all look the same, we would not have people hating each other because of their differences.” God: “Trust me, if you all looked exactly alike, the boredom alone would result in mass murder on a scale never seen before. You see; it’s your differences that make you attractive to each other.

Hon. Nick Spano On the Level with Narog and Aris

New Rochelle, NY -- Hon. Nick Spano, former New York State Senator, is Richard Narog’s and Hezi Aris’ guest this Tuesday, December 21st, from 10 am through 11 am, on WVOX-1460 AM on your radio dial and worldwide on www. WVOX.com. Jim Castro-Blanco, Esq., will be their guest on December 28th. Listeners and readers are invited to send a question to WHYTeditor@gmail. com for possible use prior to any shows’ airing and even during the course of an interview. Wednesday mornings at 8:37 am when he and Bob Marrone discuss issues on the Good Morning Westchester radio program hosted by Bob Marrone.

That attraction is programmed into you in order that you will propagate. What motivation would you have to multiply if the results were always the same? The reason life is exciting is because it’s unpredictable.” Me: “It seems as though you’re saying we should welcome adversity, pain, suffering, and failure, because without them we couldn’t enjoy their opposites.” God: “Exactly! Your very existence is in a state of balance, like the calibrated movement of the planets and the stars. At times, you may think your life is miserable, but you can only determine that emotion by comparing it to a more joyous time, when your life was balanced in the opposite direction. Suppose there was no balance? How could you know what felt good? How could you know what success was if there was no failure? Would you appreciate the day if there was no night?” Me: “Does that mean we should welcome pain into our lives?” God: “It means you should be wise enough to know that pain is a part of life. You needn’t dwell on it, but you must acknowledge it as a vital component of your humanity.” Me: “Well, what about all the different religions in the world? How many Gods are there?” God: “There’s only one of me, but my children were provided with free will. They can choose to ignore me, refer to me by other names, or condemn me.” Me: “Since you gave us free will, are you going to punish those who do not believe in you?” God: “I said everything

was part of a balanced existence. Those who do not believe will punish themselves during their journey through the vacuum of faithlessness. But inevitably, all will come to believe as they move closer to the end of life.” Me: “But how can you expect people to believe in you when they can’t see you?” God: “You can’t see the wind, but its effect on you is evident. You can walk to the edge of a cliff and not see gravity, but do you challenge its existence by jumping off? There are forces in the universe that are not 3 dimensional; they don’t have weight or density, yet their power is unmistakable. You can’t see love because its form is ethereal, existing in the hearts of those who experience a warm, affectionate, but invisible connection between themselves and others. Therefore, although you can’t see love, you can feel its power to bring people together and infuse them with the spirit of happiness. My son, you can believe in me, or not, but my love for you, although unseen, will not be unfelt.” Me: “Thank you God, and happy birthday to your son.” Bob Weir’s 7 published 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,” are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Books-a-million, and other major online book sellers.

SHOW PREP

He Never Made It To Yonkers By Bob Marrone Some events in your life, while having no direct consequence to you, can still weave through the years in ways that have no explanation. They simply return every decade or so like an old movie you forgot you had ever seen until you see it again. Fifty years, almost to the day I am writing this, I was home from school with what was almost certainly a manufactured illness. I confess I don’t remember, and it’s even possible I was really sick. The odds are, though, that I was faking it. I hated grammar school and did not like getting up in the morning. It was cold and the frozen remains of a recent snow storm lined the curbs and lay on top of those rare parcels of land not covered by concrete. In those days, it seems, most

winters were like that. In the years since, save one in the seventies and another in the nineties, it just hasn’t snowed that much. It was a good day to be home, in bed, in the frame house I grew up in, in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. What I do remember vividly will stay with me forever. In different ways the event has re-presented itself, or I do it, right to the present day. At first the approaching high pitched whistle of the jet plane, still in the distance, sounded no different than they the usually did. In 1960’s jets were only a small portion of the airliners that would fly the approach path over my house each day on their way to LaGuardia. Continued on page 22

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SHOW PREP

He Never Made It To Yonkers Continued from page 21 Most of the planes were piston prop aircraft like thee DC 7 or the Lockheed Constellation; they were the majestic last best state of the art machines of their type and would soon be replaced by the popular Boeing 707 and the less popular but longer lasting DC 8. These prop birds didn’t shriek like the screaming thunder of the jets, they roared and hummed steadily, almost musically, like a set of giant buzz saws in the sky. As this particular DC 8 came closer the sound became less familiar. The shriek was too loud, and engines seemed to be changing speeds that sounded like a vacuum cleaner being turned off and on. The now frighteningly loud thunder of the addled jet shook the windows as it came over the house. I sprung from my bed and ran to the back windows in my

grandmother’s bedroom to see why the plane was so low. I could see the tail of the giant airliner, maybe 50 feet over the house behind ours, the vertical tail with the name United Airlines on it wiggling back and forth like a sail in the wind. I wondered why the jet was so low, but was to young and unaware to realize that it was on its last legs. A mile plus a few blocks later the United Airlines, Flight826, a DC 8, out of Chicago, headed for JFK (It was Idlewild then) barely missed my very grammar school before crashing into a Church (ironically named the Pillar of fire, private homes and businesses on Sterling Place, near 7th Avenue. 83 passengers and crew died instantly, along with seven on the ground, while an 11 year old boy was found still alive and taken to nearby Methodist Hospital, where he later died. I knew he was traveling alone, I never knew

THE SPOOF

where he was going. As this was happening a TWA Super constellation, one of those more common propeller airlines of the day was itself falling almost vertically into Miller field, an old World Was I military airstrip on Staten island, killing all 44 on board. The two aircraft had collided over the island, thus making it the single biggest aircraft disaster up until that time. It was about 20 or so years later that my daughter and I visiting an airfield tuned national park in Staten Island, that we stumbled over a plague inserted right into the ground in the middle of an open space at the park. It was there to commemorate the spot where the old airliner and its 44 souls needed their lives. I had not realized, nor would I have remembered, that Miller Field Park, was, indeed, the place where the other half of the tragedy occurred. It was yet another 20 years later, working in my first broadcasting job that I was asked to produce a number of news

specials. One was about the40th. anniversary of terrible crash I had witnesses a glimpse of in my youth. It stuck me during the production that, other than a mention on the wall at Methodist Hospital, there was no memorial of the accident anywhere at the crash site. The Story went well, and you can still watch the piece on YouTube. So here I am, writing for The Westchester Guardian, making an effort to keep my contributions local when the fiftieth anniversary of the crash makes news. Two things about the crash stuck me anew. First, they finally have decided to erect a memorial in Park Slope, up in Greenwood cemetery one block form my house. Second, the 11 year old boy was headed to Yonkers to visit relatives. He never made it. Listen to Good Morning Westchester with Bob Marrone from 6-9 a.m., from Monday through Friday. Direct email to Bob Marrone at Bob@WVOX.com, and visiting the BobMarrone.com website.

SPORTS

Larry King’s Red Suspenders Sean Avery, Who Me? By Albert Caamano Stolen By Gail Farrelly He’s completed the last edition of his TV show “Larry King Live” on CNN. But that’s not the biggest challenge in Larry King’s life. No, that would be learning to live without his beloved red suspenders. He reports that the theft occurred on the day of his last show. In an exclusive interview with Gail Farrelly, investigative reporter at The Spoof and The Westchester Guardian, Larry shared a list of suspects, also providing in each case a likely motive for the theft of the suspenders: • Frosty the Snowman (“A nice splash of red would go well with his black top hat and corn cob pipe.”) • TV personality Bill O’Reilly (“He’s never liked me, simply because Kool-Aid happens to be my drink of choice.”) • Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (“Desperate for something to match his nose.......”) • Piers Morgan (“He can’t wait to get into my chair at Larry King Live. He probably lusted after my suspenders too.”) • Al Gore (“When he was a guest on my

show a few years ago, he was nattering on about global warming and his invention of the Internet, but his eyes were glued to my suspenders.”) For now, Larry refuses to wear any other suspenders. So his immediate challenge is not how to enjoy his retirement or find a new gig. It’s how he’s gonna hold up his pants. He’s offering a reward to anyone who returns his beloved red suspenders, no questions asked. Call 1-800-RedKing for more info. Sadly, an observer of Larry reports that, at last sighting, King’s pants were already at low-hip level and heading in a southerly direction. Gail Farrelly (www. FarrellySistersOnline.com) writes mystery novels and short stories as well as Op-Eds. She also publishes satire pieces (Gail Farrelly’s satire and parody stories) on TheSpoof.com, a British website. Her latest mystery novel is Creamed at Commencement: A Graduation Mystery. The first chapter is available on her website. Gail is working on a fourth mystery, The Virtual Heiress.

“I like to push it to the edge, no doubt about it,” “That’s how I play. That’s how I live. That’s what I’m all about. --- Sean Avery Ah, Sean Avery what can you say. Sean Avery plays for the New York Rangers ice hockey team and plays left wing. Some say he should be left out. He plays the game with passion, aggressiveness and pure joy, there is no in betweens when it comes to the fans; either you love his antics or you want to beat him to a pulp. There is a lot of opinions about his play but regardless you can not deny his talent, that’s why coach Totorella brought him back for a second round after his antics where not appreciated in the playoffs. He caused too many, man down situations that became a focal point for his first stint with the Rangers to end. I am a fan of his. “Why?” you ask, he doesn’t play the game correctly. Oh “Yes!” he does. At the announcement that Coach Tortorella wanted him back, New York Rangers fans where heard grumbling with general apprehension, but the coach would not back down. He new the Rangers where

better with him then without. Coach Tortorella had a plan. Under his tutelage Sean Avery would be the spark that ignites and pushes the team to become “all that” and more, -giving a hundred percent at every game, motivating the crowd and players with sometimes questionable antics and giving the opposing teams headaches that aspirins couldn’t cure .Coach Tortorella didn’t have to prove his idea worked, they became self evident to those watching it on the ice. Regardless of how the Rangers are playing, well or a bit lackluster, which seemed to be the case during last season and on and off this season, Sean Avery could be seen slicing and dicing the oppoContinued on page 23

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SPORTS

Sean Avery, Who Me? Continued from page 22 sition every which way.he did it passing, moving the puck, shooting the puck or just crushing the opponent. He becomes the gnat that you just cant seem to catch or get rid of. Sean is what is missing in a lot of players and can be their down fall, as we have seen with recent young players being demoted or traded. Sometimes a coach will tolerate a palyers’deficiencies but for only so long and Coach Totorella has admitted he is not a baby sitter. I guess his motto would be, if you haven’t learn it by now you can learn it somewhere else. A player must be able to see the ice - that means knowing where everyone is and knowing when and how to make the right decisions. Sean Avery can do this, he sees the ice and see’s the plays as they are developing, which is why he is a key ingredient to the Rangers’ formula. Take all of that and put it aside for a second and you will find another side to

Mr. Avery that he keeps to himself. He recently worked for a fashion magazine and is very familiar with fashion and is a connoisseur of clothes. If you take this for what it’s worth, the average fan would say he’s lazy; he does what he wants because of his status. He also gets what he wants but it’s actually the reverse. While working for the magazine in the summer he actually took advantage of a gym that is geared to the professional and does not tolerate casual walk-ins. It was actually a way to be forced to train because nothing else is accepted or you would be asked to leave. If you doubt his dedication, he was at the gym two to three hours every day before his job at the fashion magazine started. I guess it was a way to get his cake and eat it. He would be ready for the next season. I believe he’s never been out of shape for a season and as you can see he is always prepared for the season; beating out veterans who sometimes take a casual approach to the training camps.

Off ice, his life includes several unique pursuits and acquisitions that includes Career Gear, a charity that most fans may not be familiar. Career Gear, is a non-profit charity organized around one goal, to

help men get jobs and keep jobs. They provide career counseling, interview coaching, business clothing, and followup job support to men actively seeking employment. Then there is Warren 77, the name of Sean Avery’s restaurant which is another endeavor for the man that some may not really know, located at 77 Warren St., between Greenwich and West Broadway. Warren 77 serve a panoply of dishes from Mac and Cheese to filet mignon, satisfying the discerning New Yorkers’ palate with an ambience of fine dining. A clothing line is coming soon, urban wear, to include t-shirts, hats, pants and jackets So next time you watch Sean Avery in a game remember the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Sean Avery a blue collar player, playing for the blue. Albert Caamano has coached ice hockey for 15 plus years

TRENDS JOURNAL

Wake-Up Call: Top 11 Trends of 2011 By Gerald Celente After the tumultuous years of the Great Recession, a battered people may wish that 2011 will bring a return to kinder, gentler times. But that is not what we are predicting. Instead, the fruits of government and institutional action – and inaction – on many fronts will ripen in unplanned-for fashions. Trends we have previously identified, and that have been brewing for some time, will reach maturity in 2011, impacting just about everyone in the world. 1. Wake-Up Call... In 2011, the people of all nations will fully recognize how grave economic conditions have become, how ineffectual and self-serving the so-called solutions have been, and how dire the consequences will be. Having become convinced of the inability of leaders and know-it-all

“arbiters of everything” to fulfill their promises, the people will do more than just question authority, they will defy authority. The seeds of revolution will be sown…. 2. Crack-Up 2011... Among our Top Trends for last year was the “Crash of 2010.” What happened? The stock market didn’t crash. We know. We made it clear in our Autumn Trends Journal that we were not forecasting a stock market crash – the equity markets were no longer a legitimate indicator of recovery or the real state of the economy. Yet the reliable indicators (employment numbers, the real estate market, currency pressures, sovereign debt problems) all bordered between crisis and disaster. In 2011, with the arsenal of schemes to prop them up depleted, we predict “Crack-Up 2011”: teetering economies will collapse, currency wars will ensue, trade barriers will be erected,

economic unions will splinter, and the onset of the “Greatest Depression” will be recognized by everyone…. 3. Screw the People... As times get even tougher and people get even poorer, the “authorities” will intensify their efforts to extract the funds needed to meet fiscal obligations. While there will be variations on the theme, the governments’ song will be the same: cut what you give, raise what you take. 4. Crime Waves... No job + no money + compounding debt = high stress, strained relations, short fuses. In 2011, with the fuse lit, it will be prime time for Crime Time. As Gerald Celente says, “When people lose everything and they have nothing left to lose, they lose it.” Hardship-driven crimes will be committed across the socioeconomic spectrum by legions of the

on-the-edge desperate who will do whatever they must to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table…. 5. Crackdown on Liberty... As crime rates rise, so will the voices demanding a crackdown. A national crusade to “Get Tough on Crime” will be waged against the citizenry. And just as in the “War on Terror,” where “suspected terrorists” are killed before proven guilty or jailed without trial, in the “War on Crime” everyone is a suspect until proven innocent…. 6. Alternative Energy... In laboratories and workshops unnoticed by mainstream analysts, scientific visionaries and entrepreneurs are forging a new physics incorporating principles once thought impossible, working to create devices that liberate more energy than they consume. What are they, and how long will it be before they can be brought to market? Shrewd investors will ignore the “can’t be done” skepticism, and examine the newly emerging energy

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TRENDS

Wake-Up Call: Top 11 Trends of 2011 trend opportunities that will come of age in 2011…. 7. Journalism 2.0... Though the trend has been in the making since the dawn of the Internet Revolution, 2011 will mark the year that new methods of news and information distribution will render the 20th century model obsolete. With its unparalleled reach across borders and language barriers, “Journalism 2.0” has the potential to influence and educate citizens in a way that governments and corporate media moguls would never permit. Of the hundreds of trends we have forecast over three decades, few have the possibility of such far-reaching effects…. 8. Cyberwars... Just a decade ago, when the digital age was blooming

and hackers were looked upon as annoying geeks, we forecast that the intrinsic fragility of the Internet and the vulnerability of the data it carried made it ripe for cyber-crime and cyber-warfare to flourish. In 2010, every major government acknowledged that Cyberwar was a clear and present danger and, in fact, had already begun. The demonstrable effects of Cyberwar and its companion, Cybercrime, are already significant – and will come of age in 2011. Equally disruptive will be the harsh measures taken by global governments to control free access to the web, identify its users, and literally shut down computers that it considers a threat to national security…. 9. Youth of the World Unite...

University degrees in hand yet out of work, in debt and with no prospects on the horizon, feeling betrayed and angry, forced to live back at home, young adults and 20-somethings are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore. Filled with vigor, rife with passion, but not mature enough to control their impulses, the confrontations they engage in will often escalate disproportionately. Government efforts to exert control and return the youth to quiet complacency will be ham-fisted and ineffectual. The Revolution will be televised … blogged, YouTubed, Twittered and…. 10. End of The World!... The closer we get to 2012, the louder the calls will be that the “End is Near!” There have always been sects, at any time in history, that saw signs and portents proving the end of the world was imminent. But 2012 seems to hold

a special meaning across a wide segment of “End-time” believers. Among the Armageddonites, the actual end of the world and annihilation of the Earth in 2012 is a matter of certainty. Even the rational and informed that carefully follow the news of never-ending global crises, may sometimes feel the world is in a perilous state. Both streams of thought are leading many to reevaluate their chances for personal survival, be it in heaven or on earth…. 11. The Mystery Trend... will be revealed upon publication of the Trends Journal in mid-January. With a 30-year track record to prove it, no one has a more accurate inside scoop on the crucial trends shaping our future than Trends Journal ( http://www.trendsresearch.com/ index.htm )Publisher, Gerald Celente.

TRUTH AND JUSTICE

The Practice of Using Technicalities to Fight Against Innocence ClaimsByMust Cease Jeff Deskovic As an antiwrongful conviction advocate, it is necessary for me to stay current in the field in order to be as effective as possible. Recently, a news item came to my attention that made me think of the larger issue than the particular story, tragic as the story was. The headline stated that the Californian Attorney General was seeking to return an innocent man to prison, based upon a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals in an unrelated case which stated that there was “no actual innocence exception” to filing a petitions late. Remedial legislation is badly needed in order to establish an actual innocence exception to filing deadlines and technicalities, because wrongfully convicted prisoners should always be free to bring a

petition into federal court. Bruce Lisker’s case illustrates this point. Lisker was wrongfully convicted of killing his mother back in 1983, and served 26 years prior to establishing his innocence and winning his release through a Habeas Corpus Petition. Lisker succeeded by undermining the evidence against him, to the point that a federal judge recommending his release referred to it as “false evidence.” Specifically, Lisker was able to show that a bloody footprint found outside his mother’s home-which matched onethat of one found inside the house, did not belong to him, in contradiction of what the jury was told. A police officer had falsely testified, and the prosecutor argued to the jury, that that Lisker’s story of having observed his mother’s head on the floor from the street and then breaking into the house to see if she was okay and subsequently calling 911

for help was a lie, because Lisker could not have possible seen into the house from where he said he was standing, and that as such Lisker himself must have stabbed his mother. Lisker was able to demonstrate that he was able to see into the house, to such an extent that even the retired prosecutor who convicted him acknowledged

that he could have seen into the house. Still another argument was that Lisker could not have been able to see into the house because of a glare caused by reflections by sunlight; was rebutted, because news reports of the day of the murder showed that it was cloudy that day. Continued on page 25

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TRUTH AND JUSTICE

The Practice of Using Technicalities to Fight Against Innocence Claims Must Cease Continued from page 24 The Habeas court also found that Lisker’s trial attorney was inadequate in that he didn’t do adequate investigation to discover these things and present them to the jury. Beyond that, there was strong evidence of the guilt of a third party suspect, Mike Ryan. Ryan had been to the Lisker home the day before the murder. It was discovered that a phone call had been placed from the Lisker home around the time of the crime to Ryan’s mother’s house. Ryan had been convicted ten months prior to robbing a teenager with a knife. The day after the murder, he fled to another state. Tracked down by the police, he was found in juvenile hall for having tried to break into a woman’s home. Later on, he was sent to prison for attacking a woman with a knife. Ryan gave an alibi which was disproven. Based upon all of these things, Lisker was released. The district attorney’s office then dismissed the charges against Lisker, stating that they had insufficient evidence to retry him. After being free for one year, the California Attorney General, Jerry Brown, who is running for Governor, tried to return Lisker to prison, citing a ruling in an unrelated case recently decided by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that there is no actual innocence exception to the rule stating that inmates may not file petitions late. His argument is that Lisker’s petition had been filed late, and therefore the court should have dismissed the petition and not gotten to the merits of the case. As of right now, a federal court has dismissed the Attorney General’s argument. Currently, Brown is in the process of deciding whether to appeal the ruling. This sequence of events has caused me to think about the larger issue: prosecutor’s, or in the case the Attorney General, using or attempting to use technicalities to trump innocence. To be sure,

the Lisker case, while particularly outrageous because the case against him was dismissed and he has been free for a year, is by no means an isolated incident. Here in New York, current Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, used technicalities several times to successfully get Jessie Friedman’s appeals dismissed, even though he was attempting to introduce evidence of his innocence. In my own case, former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro successfully got my Habeas Petition dismissed- even though I was arguing my innocence based upon a negative DNA test, because my petition arrived 4 days too late due to the court clerk giving my attorney inaccurate information regarding the filing procedure. Urgent legislation is needed from the Federal Government to allow prisoners to have access to the courts to present evidence of innocence. Clearly, the three instances of technicalities being used to avoid having innocence claims reviewed in court are not the only cases in which this has occurred. To do otherwise, is to say that it is okay for the wrongfully convicted to remain in prison due to a technicality. That proposition is contrary to justice, and to common sense. A bedrock principle of our justice system is that the innocent should go free while the guilty are punished. That principle is turned on its head when technicalities are elevated over innocence. Sometimes, in considering issues within a context of legal mumbo-jumbo, courts lose sight of common sense. The expression that “one is so smart, they are stupid,” applies to the 9th Circuit’s decision. The purpose of procedures and rules is supposed to be streamlining, efficiency, and fairness. Elevating procedure over innocence and justice is contrary to fairness. Beyond that, a rigid conformity to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law, results in an outcome inconsistent to justice. The fact that

there is a need for such remedial legislation speaks to the sad state of affairs in our courts. Firstly, many judges have gotten away from the principle function of ensuring that justice is done by making rulings based on technicalities rather than on the merits, and such rulings lend themselves either to injustices occurring or continuing, rather than being corrected. Secondly, it is to me patently immoral for Attorney General Brown to have argued that an innocent man should be returned to prison because of a technicality. Has he no conscience? Does Pirro, or Rice, or any number of prosecutors who have similarly used procedure to fight against innocence claims? Such positions are not only immoral but are inconsistent with the true to function of prosecutor to seek justice-which means both prosecuting the guilty while clearing the innocent. The fact that the supervisors of such prosecutor’s, and other elected officials, do not express outrage and take corrective action thwarting such attempts, as well as remove them from those positions of responsibility, demonstrates our acceptance as a society of such tactics. Why are we so accepting? Is it because the defendant’s, having been convicted, are really guilty? Does the idea that wrongful convictions occur, and that jury verdicts are not infallible, and that the system itself has systemic deficiencies leading to inaccurate results, not penetrate such archaic thinking? The way that the system is currently constructed, staffed by many of the people currently carrying out the functions of prosecutor’s and judges of all levels, along with the systemic deficiencies that lead to wrongful convictions, the justice system is, in my view, not only broken, but a “justice system” in name only. Jeffrey M. Deskovic is a Criminal Justice Advocate and Exoneree. To learn more, visit his website: www. JeffreyDeskovicSpeaks.org.

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