Westchester Guardian by David Watterson

PRESORTED STANDARD PERMIT #3036 WHITE PLAINS NY

Vol. VI No. I

Westchesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Most Influential Weekly

The News is All Good By MARY C. MARVIN, Mayor of the Village of Bronxville

Thursday, January 5, 2012 $1.00

One Second at a Time Page 4

Fighting to Make Peekskill a City Page 11

Blown Up Christians Page 12

Medical Malpractice The Real Story Page 13

The Best and the Worst Of The Year Page 16

Sea Dreaming Page 17

Ending on a High Note, and an Opening

The So-called Living Wage Law

By PETER SWIDERSKI, Mayor of the Village of Hastings-on Hudson

Third Time Is Not Necessarily a Charm

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

The Westchester Guardian

Of Significance Community Section......................................................................4 Books..........................................................................................4 Business.......................................................................................6 Calendar......................................................................................6 Creative Disruption....................................................................7 Cultural Perspective....................................................................8 Current Commentary...............................................................10 Education..................................................................................10 History......................................................................................11 International Perspective..........................................................12 Medicine...................................................................................13 Movie Review...........................................................................15 Spoof.........................................................................................16 Eye On Theatre.........................................................................16 Travel.........................................................................................17 Government Section..................................................................18 Mayor Marvin’s Column..........................................................18 Message from the Mayor.........................................................18 Judiciary Section.........................................................................20 Judiciary....................................................................................20 OpEd Section..............................................................................20 Ed Koch Commentary.............................................................21 Letters to the Editor.................................................................22 New York Civic.........................................................................22 Legal Notices...............................................................................23

Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly

Guardian News Corp. P.O. Box 8 New Rochelle, New York 10801 Sam Zherka , Publisher & President publisher@westchesterguardian.com Hezi Aris, Editor-in-Chief & Vice President whyteditor@gmail.com Advertising: (914) 562-0834 News and Photos: (914) 562-0834 Fax: (914) 633-0806 Published online every Monday Print edition distributed Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Graphic Design: Watterson Studios, Inc. www.wattersonstudios.com

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RADIO

Westchester On the Level Westchester On the Level with Co-hosts Richard Narog and Hezi Aris is heard from 10 am to 12 Noon, from Monday to Friday. Listen live at http:// www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterOnThe Level and join the conversation by call toll-free to 1-877-674-2436.

For those who cannot join us live, consider listening to the show by way of an MP3 download, or an on demand after 12:15 p.m., after every show at the link provided above, During the week of January 2-6, 2012, we will operate the Monday program schedule, not operate on January 3rd in order to attend the Yonkers City Council reorganization meeting, speak to Assemblyman Dr. Steve Katz on January 4th before New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address, on January 5th get an analysis by Assemblyman Dr. Katz and Carlos Gonzalez, The Albany Correspondent with The Westchester Guardian, and have a week end synopsis of all the news that transpired on Friday, January 6th. The entire archive is available and maintained for your perusal.The easiest way to find a particular interview is to search Google or any other search engine for the subject matter or the name of the interviewee.

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.

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CommunitySection

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

ARBOR DAY

Celebrate the New Year with 10 Free Flowering Trees from the Arbor Day Foundation

Residents of New York can ring in the New Year by receiving 10 free flowering trees by joining the Arbor Day Foundation any time during January 2012. By becoming a member of the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation, you will receive two white flowering dogwoods, two flowering crabapples, two Washington hawthorns, two American redbuds and two goldenraintrees. “These beautiful trees will give your

home in New York lovely flowers with pink, yellow and white colors,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “These trees are perfect for large and small spaces, and they will provide food and habitat for songbirds.” The free trees are part of the nonprofit Foundation’s Trees for America campaign. The trees will be shipped postpaid at the right time for planting, between Feb. 1 and

BOOKS

May 31, with enclosed planting instructions. The 6- to 12-inch tall trees are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge. Arbor Day Foundation members also receive a subscription to the Foundation’s bimonthly publication, Arbor Day, and The Tree Book, which includes information about tree planting and care. To become a member of the Foundation and to receive your free trees, send a $10

contribution to TEN FREE FLOWERING TREES, Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410, by January 31, 2012. New York residents can also join online at arborday.org/ Dogwood tree. Photo january. courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.

The Retired (Try To) Strike Back—Chapter 33 – First Debate By ALLAN LUKS Myron and Mary Ellen sit behind a long table, a white cloth over it, in the restaurant’s long private room, whose walls display posters of Italian cities and beaches and Frank Sinatra. Most of the two hundred chairs, divided by an aisle running down the middle of the room, are now filled by members of the neighborhood community association sponsoring the first debate in its district’s election contest for city council. There are many gray hairs and all races present, and Myron wonders whom they’ll support as he looks at his white, spotted folded hands and Mary Ellen’s much younger, smooth black folded hands. A floor mike stands in the aisle. The association president, a large woman, late fifties, with a white flower attached to her blouse, sits in a first row next to the mike. “First question,” the president asks, smiling at Mary Ellen and Myron. “Why are you running? A typical question, I know. But we’ll have harder ones later, I’m sure, from our members. Mary Ellen?” Why had they asked Mary Ellen first? wonders Myron. Because I’m twice her age, does the group believe Mary Ellen needs to be tested first, or is it a hint that she’s their favorite? He hears Mary Ellen discuss being brought

up in a home where politics was often discussed, always wanting to help people, and having served as an attorney for the city she understood the leadership needed to get the city to act. Applause, though not too loud, Myron thinks—and he suddenly decides to also applaud. Yes, let them see that this senior running for the first time represents a new kind of candidate. “And you, Myron?” the president asks. Myron nods, and his practiced words sound loud and clear, and, he tells himself, they’re not repeating the trite explanation about being encouraged by wonderful parents. “I believe you know about the unique leadership that seniors can bring to our divided society, at local and national levels. There’s a national primary competition now and one leading candidate is sixty-nine, but no questions have been raised about his thinking and energy. We’ve seen the same acceptance of older candidates in recent local elections. Yet, just four years ago, in the presidential race, one candidate, then seventy-one, was accused by the opposition of having confused thinking. “Today, your expectations have changed. Seniors are recognized not just for their vitality but reaching a stage of calmness and wisdom that can aid others. And this stage has been discussed in psychological literature. For three years, I was part of a group that made a film to encourage lonely

seniors to date. And I saw, as the video developed, that seniors want relationships that are honest and obviously can be made to happen soon—all of which makes us a force for leadership.“ Myron stops, recognizing he’s spoken longer than Mary Ellen, but telling himself he has the right to because his candidacy really is different, and he feels the truth of his words— Applause, as many as for Mary Ellen, but not more, Myron thinks. “O.K., we’ve started,” the president says, “let’s go to member questions. Six people are already lined up behind the old floor mike. The first is a man, early forties, wearing a worn, shiny dark suit and tie with a loose shirt collar; Myron doesn’t see any other man in a suit or sports jacket—This man speaks before the president recognizes him: “You want to tell us,”he says, looking at Mary Ellen, “that you’re this young wizard from city government who’ll bring wizardry to our district as a city councilman. But aren’t you really bragging and out to get recognized so you can become important?” Mary Ellen’s smile. “I’m not here to defend myself. But let me say my earnings, if I went into private legal practice, would be far greater than a city councilman’s. I’m running for city council to serve the people of this district—“

No Guarantees: One Man’s Road Through the Darkness of Depression Chapter Eighteen - One Second at a Time By BOB MARRONE I am often asked why I waited more than thirty years to write

this book. There are several answers. First, it took several years to get well enough to gain

the insight needed to reflect back. Second, and somewhat related to the first, is that it took

“And you,” the man says, cutting off Mary Ellen and looking at Myron, “want me to believe that if you’re elected, the next day you’re rushing to make speedy changes because you have to prove to yourself that you can leave your mark and you don’t have much time to do it. So I say you’re also really in this election to help yourself—“ Before Myron can reply, the speaker turns from the floor mike and returns to a row of seats at the back. “Don’t you realize I can produce cooperation in the city council because I’m not in competition, I don’t need to be recognized?” Myron calls. The man yells back, “You’ll convince yourself, and so will she if she wins, that by being elected you’ve left your mark and you’ll tell yourself it’s the other officials who block everything, not your fault, and still nothing will change.” He and Mary Ellen look at each other, and Myron wonders if she’s also thinking that their larger challenge is not each other but convincing the public that it’s possible that a new kind of leader really can run for election?” The next person in line walks to the microphone. She is about Myron’s age and black. Mary Ellen and Myron fold and unfold their hands. “I believe we do have a clear choice tonight,” this woman begins. Allan Luks is anationally recognized social works leader and advocate for volunteerism. He is currently a visiting professor at Fordham university, where he teaches several courses in nonprofit leadership.Learn more at http://allanluks.com. Direct email to allan@allanluks.com. awhile to believe that I would not relapse due to the very obsessive behaviors that perpetuate and aggravate the illness. And third, related to the first two, the doubt, panic, self hate and agitation were so great, so malevolently damaging to my soul, that it took years to talk about it with confidence. With this in mind, we enter the phase of my precipitous decline mitigated only, first, by Continued on page 5

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No Guarantees: One Man’s Road Through the Darkness of Depression Continued from page 4 the hope of psychotherapy, followed later by its promise. The week between sessions one and two stands out as one of the most unstable and anguished periods of my sixty-one years. There were to be many more perilous weeks, indeed months, but perhaps none was as nakedly uncertain and frightening as that one. As such, it has taken me much of this time to look hard, unsparingly, and with some degree of objectivity at such episodes. I left Doctor John Casarino’s office worse than I walked in. While it is true that he told me I was not going crazy, he also informed me that I would need at least a year of treatment. This kicked-in a whole host of fears, some born of my hypochondria. I was now officially sick and in need of a shrink; a most humiliating outcome for a boy-man from Brooklyn. My agitation was worse and, as amazing as it may seem, I now thought even less of myself. There was, as well, a lesson in my first visit that I was to learn repeatedly over the next few years: Things can always get worse no matter how bad you think they are. As I headed home I started going over everything that he said over and over and taking every word or phrase in the worst possible way. “What does neurotic mean, does it mean I am a coward?” I thought. “Does John think I am a coward? Does John think I will get better? Does he think I am smart? Does he think I have what it takes to be a man? Am I special? Why did he say I needed a year or more to get better? What is it about me that makes him think that? Why did he not spend more time with me?” When I got home the mantra continued, over and over and over again. After about an hour of this, plus talking to my wife, my mother, my best friend and my oldest sister, they started. Several full-bore, no holds barred, panic attacks that brought me to the point of nearly voiding the contents of my bladder and bowel. Once again these attacks were followed by the upheaval of my subconscious. From that dark place came a torrent of feelings and childhood memories, none of them good. Every lie I had ever told, every selfish act, every remembrance of someone who had been angry with me became a woeful indictment. I could not control the anxiety. I could not control my thoughts, and I could not wait to talk with my doctor. So I picked up the phone and called. At first, I got his answering machine. I waited about an hour or so; then he called me back. The funny thing about it, as I look back, is that there was the tendency to talk about the issues going through my head at the time, or whatever seemed unresolved from the session. This call was to follow that path, but not before

I told him I had had the series of anxiety attacks. As to the attacks, he was sympathetic. “You poor thing, that’s awful.” He said. I appreciated his sentiments, but wondered if he thought I was being a baby. And, thus, I started doing what men who doubt themselves almost always do. I tried to tell him I would be okay, if only he would answer my questions. That’s when I started spinning my yarn again, except this time out loud. “Am I a coward, will I get well? How long before the attacks stop? Why can’t I control my thoughts?” and so on. John took hold of the conversation. “Bob, we can talk about this next week, that’s what therapy is for.” “I can’t wait that long, doctor, if I could I would not need you.” I replied. His next words would become a part of my very soul over the next few years, but I did not know it at the time. Plus, they made me angry, even resentful. “Bob” he went on, “You have to compartmentalize these issues and feeling until we meet next week. Get out of your head. Remember, you cannot have closure on all of these at once.” His tone was sympathetic, but firm. He ended the conversation by saying that I should call if I needed to, although it was clear that his advice was not going to change much. . The next thing I had to concern myself with was just getting to the next appointment, one week away. I had an important job as a training instructor who had to write manuals and teach large classes. I had to figure out how to do this while being unable to sit still or concentrate. I also had to figure out a way to hide or explain my constant sweating, lip biting, dry mouth and increasing agoraphobia. I also had to figure out how to mark time. Imagine that you were set to be executed in the morning, but you were scheduled to meet with the clemency judge five hours from now. Imagine also that you are in pain and wracked with panic attacks. Imagine, too, that you had to keep up appearances that all was okay, and that you had to stay in your office working to keep your job. Well, it was like that only worse. The conventional wisdom is that you have to live a day at time in order to beat the dynamic of anticipatory angst and anxiety. It is true. But then, in the early weeks, I had to live one second at time. Sometime, I would sit at my desk and count backwards from 100,000, just to get through. To this day<, I am not sure how I did, but I did. Bob Marrone is the host of the Good Morning Westchester with Bob Marrone, heard daily from Monday to Friday

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BUSINESS

One Holiday Gift We Can’t Return

prepaid subscribers. Meanwhile, the company has been losing the contract or postpaid customers who generate 80 percent of its revenue. With its bargain basement prices,T-Mobile simply cannot afford to offer the cutting-edge services that better-paying customers demand. It is the only one of the top four providers that does not offer the iPhone, and it lacks the capital to roll out a national long term evolution (LTE) network, which is the forthcoming standard for high-end data service. As an individual consumer and a business owner, I choose to do my business with AT&T, not because I am unaware of T-Mobile’s lower prices or because I simply prefer to pay more, but because I think T-Mobile does not offer as good an overall value. Even for consumers who are interested in what T-Mobile has to offer, the breakup of the deal is unlikely to do much good. Deutsche Telekom has made no secret of the fact that it is tired of dumping money into a North American enterprise that is quickly proving itself obsolete. To remain competitive in Europe, T-Mobile’s German parent needs to focus its energy and its resources on expanding its infrastructure there. Now that it has lost the opportunity to sell T-Mobile to AT&T, Deutsche Telekom may resume the preliminary talks it started with Sprint. A merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is not likely to actually materialize, however, because of differences in the core technologies used by the two carriers. While AT&T and T-Mobile use Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology, Sprint, like Verizon, uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). It wouldn’t be impossible to overcome this obstacle – there are already some dual-mode phones available – but it wouldn’t be easy, either.

As an alternative, Deutsche Telekom might cut T-Mobile loose to sink or swim on its own. Sinking is the likelier conclusion. Regardless of what happens, it is clear that regulators will not achieve their goal of preserving four competitive national carriers. While regulators’ interference did little to help current or potential T-Mobile customers, it did plenty to hurt AT&T’s 100 million subscribers, myself included. We customers will bear the cost of the $3 billion breakup fee AT&T now owes to Deutsche Telekom for calling off the deal. In addition to that upfront cash, AT&T will have to transfer radio spectrum and strike a more favorable network-sharing agreement with T-Mobile. This will hold back AT&T’s efforts to improve its own network, upon which customers like myself depend. The long-term costs will run even deeper. AT&T was counting on the deal to give it spectrum and tower sites that it can use to boost its capacity to accommodate the data demands of today’s phones, tablets and other mobile devices. Now it will have to find alternatives to the original plan, which would have made better use of T-Mobile’s suboptimal infrastructure. Another consequence of the deal’s failure is that the cost of AT&T’s future improvements will be spread among fewer customers than if the merger had gone forward. As a result, AT&T customers (again, this includes me) will pay more, not less, to get high-quality service. Thanks, Washington. The only real winners are the other two major carriers, Verizon and Sprint. Regulators’ meddling gives them an unearned advantage by making AT&T a weaker competitor, which is a poor trade-off for keeping a limping T-Mobile in the wireless race. Verizon gets to keep its slot as number one in terms of number of subscribers, and Sprint gets to keep its spot as not last. The two will be able to continue largely ignoring

T-Mobile as it lurches toward irrelevance. Not having to face a larger, more efficient competitor will give Sprint and Verizon greater leeway to keep prices high. In case regulators are confused, this is not supposed to be the outcome of an anti-trust action. The ways in which regulators handled this transaction reflect deeper problems within the current administration. Rather than listening to what economic actors are actually saying with their wallets, the administration is intent on imposing its own idea of what’s best for everyone else. As a result, we now have the choice of an option that no one really wants to choose and one that Deutsche Telekom would rather not offer, as well as the fact that AT&T customers will likely be forced to wait longer for faster, cheaper service. I realize not all readers will agree with me. If you are happy with the outcome of the deal, you might want to reward the public servants at the FCC and Justice Department with an equally thoughtful gift, perhaps a new phone from T-Mobile. You just have to hope they don’t want iPhones.

News & Notes from Northern Westchester

Theater in Croton Falls on January 15th, for details call 914-277-8477. Even as the weather gets colder, here’s a green thumb event that says spring is not far away…the Pleasantville Garden Club is meeting on January 5th with the topic “Our Landscape Trees: How to Prune and Care for Trees and Shrubs,” at the Presbyterian Church of Pleasantville. Razors up and three cheers to Owner Camillo Astrologo owner of Camillo’s Barber Shop, in Bedford Hills as he was given an official New York State Assembly Proclamation by Assembly member Robert Castelli in recognition of his stature in the community for half of a century. The St. Matthew’s Art Show in Bedford will feature local artists January 21st and 22nd and if you haven’t had your fill of champagne yet, they will have a preview party on Friday the 20th,

for more information call 914-234-9636. Love these generous giving stories…The DeCicco Family Market in Cross River has created a program through which its customers can purchase pre-assembled bags of groceries at a discounted price that are then donated to the Community Center of Northern Westchester in Katonah, a charity that assists those in need with food, clothing and other services. “Bow-Wow!” A committee has been formed to help raise funds for a new dog park in Somers; the campaign has a goal of $20,000. We want to wish Town of Bedford’s assessor Tom Polzella all the best as he heads to his well deserved retirement in Florida and good luck to former Yorktown assessor Harold Girdlestone, as he takes over in Bedford. “B – 4” you spend another night wondering what to do, check out this night-time Bingo

By LARRY M. ELKIN Regulators say they gave consumers a holiday gift by putting a stop to the planned $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. I wish they had included a return receipt. After nine months, AT&T’s plan to acquire Deutsche Telekom-owned competitor T-Mobile came to an end last week, when AT&T decided the costs of fighting regulators for approval of the deal were simply too high. Obstacles included the Justice Department suing to block the transaction and the Federal Communication Commission waging a separate war of attrition. According to regulators, the deal had to be blocked to preserve competition in the wireless market. With T-Mobile out of the picture, only three major players would have been left on the field: a strengthened AT&T; its arch-nemesis Verizon Wireless; and the underdog Sprint. Those who have a positive outlook on the deal breakup argue that T-Mobile’s lower prices and continued independence will keep prices in check for all four carriers’ customers. T-Mobile’s monthly wireless plans are $15 to $50 cheaper than comparable AT&T plans, Bloomberg reported based on analysis by Consumer Reports. But what opponents of the erstwhile deal failed to notice was that, even with the lowest prices around, T-Mobile has been failing to attract the most valuable customers. While it has managed to keep adding at least a small number of patrons, bringing in a net gain of 126,000 new subscribers in the third quarter of 2011, the bulk of T-Mobile’s new business is from

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group a fee-only financial planning firm headquartered in Scarsdale, NY. The firm offers estate planning, insurance consulting, trust planning, cross-border planning, business valuation, family office and business management, executive financial planning, and tax services. Its sister firm, Palisades Hudson Asset Management, is an independent investment advisor with about $950 million under management. Branch offices are in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale. Website:www.palisadeshudson.com.

CALENDAR

By MARK JEFFERS Sure my kids and wife ended up exchanging most of the gifts I bought…always dangerous letting me shop, but we had a great time together. So, let’s hit the area gyms, take a walk or just sit back and enjoy this week’s “News and Notes.” Speaking of shopping…don’t forget the January sales days in Pound Ridge, now through January 31st, please just don’t tell my wife… In the New Year, the Mount Kisco area will lose a wonderful patron of the community for the past 10 years. Susan Riley, the Mount Kisco Public Library’s director will be moving

to the Mamaroneck Public Library, starting officially on January 16th. One of Susan’s many contributions was her leadership in completing the construction of the latest library, which was re-opened just over two years ago. On January 10th the American Association of University Women will be sponsoring a playreading group, where participants take turns reading from Jules Feiffer’s “Little Murders.” This free event will be held from 1-3:30pm at the Mount Pleasant Public Library on Bedford Road in Pleasantville. This sounds cool…the 24th annual Winter Jazz Concert with legendary Houston Person and his quartet performs at the School House

Continued on page 7

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CALENDAR

News & Notes from Northern Westchester Continued from page 6 event for teens and adults at the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem on January 18th…test your bingo skills, suggested donation of $1 for the pot! During this holiday season, give a gift to your entire community by making a donation to the Bedford Hills Free Library, your gift

helps the library continue to provide their excellent program of library services to you and your neighbors. Thank you and nice work goes out to our friends at Yonkers Raceway, as they donated more than 600 coats and toys for the needy from their Christmas Spirit toy and coat drive! Turning to sports…

Three cheers for North Salem High School graduate Brian “Cobi” Span, a sophomore at the University of Virginia, as he signed recently to play professional soccer for Sweden’s Djurgarden club. In boys H.S. hoop action this week, it was Somers beating Yorktown 61 to 45 and Dobbs Ferry defeated Horace Greeley 78-51. On the girls’ side, it was Tappan Zee over Peekskill by the final score of 61 to 50.

Well, I have all ready broke most of my New Year resolutions, except the one that will be easy to continue, that being to keep writing this fun column for all of you…see you next week.

Interchange and Electronic Funds Transfer greatly reduced the need for clerical help) and distribution allowed firms to consolidate. The distribution reductions were due to the growth of national chains of bookstores -- Barnes & Noble, Borders, B. Dalton, & Waldenbooks came to dominate the landscape, effectively causing the closing of a vast majority of local bookstores. The chains had many more selections and could sell at discounted prices due to their purchasing power. The trend was accelerated when B&N and Borders acquired B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, respectively, and built larger and larger “box stores,” incorporating cafes, records and children’s sections. In another development, “books on tape” (recorded books, first on cassette tape and then compact disks) became hot items, allowing “readers” to enjoy books while walking or driving.

The above changes, all spawned one way or another by technology, all went generally unnoticed by the reading public to this point. This changed in 1995 with the opening of Amazon as a major online bookstore. Amazon allowed customers to shop from home and office, wherever a computer was available, while providing a huge inventory, reduced prices, and in most cases, the absence of taxes. Amazon’s advent provided the final death knell to the local bookstore, which could not compete with either Barnes & Noble’s ambiance nor Amazon’s convenience and low price. With the digital revolution in full swing, the next step was the “e-book” (“electronic book”) replacement for the printed book. There had been e-book readers around for a number of years (an early one from RCA and another from Continued on page 8

Mark Jeffers successfully spearheaded the launch of MAR$AR Sports & Entertainment LLC in 2008. As president he has seen rapid growth of the company with the signing of numerous clients. He resides in Bedford Hills, New York, with his wife Sarah, and three daughters, Kate, Amanda, and Claire.

CREATIVE DISRUPTION

Publishing

By JOHN F. McMULLEN

Creative Disruption is a continuing series examining the impact of constantly accelerating technology on the world around us. These changers normally happen under our personal radar until we find that the world as we knew it is no more. Publishing is the first of this series.

Publishing

In 1981, a co-author, Barbara McMullen and I, began work on a book on one of the newest technologies available to individuals, telecommunications. We developed the book, using the latest technology at the time, a word processor on an Apple II, and even provided illustrations using an Apple Graphics Tablet. The use of these features allowed us to cut writing time dramatically from the previous “high-tech” tool, the typewriter. We could actually “edit” the document, making changes to sentences, moving paragraphs around, and inserted brand new text at various points in the manuscript -- all capabilities that were not possible with typewriters. Unfortunately, similar improvements had not yet come into the world of publishers in 1982 when we submitted the finished manuscript of “Microcomputer Communications: A Window on the World” to John Wiley and Sons. Some publishers were experimenting with programs that translate computer files into the formats required by their typesetting machines while others were simply retyping submissions received in printed format. Our editor at Wiley would review the document, make changes that he thought corrected or improved the work, and verify the changes with us. Once the manuscript had passed final muster, a proof would be printed for final review and the book would be scheduled for production.The scheduling was not only based on the printing process but on the timing of the next Wiley catalogue that would go to bookstores and distributors. Our book finally reached production status in 1983, almost two years after we had begun the project and a year after we had first turned the manuscript over to Wiley. This did not seem to

be a major problem to Wiley at the time as it was used to this type of turnaround on projects, even those involving computer technology as new large (“mainframe”) or smaller (“minicomputer”) systems had long product cycles. It was, however, the “kiss of death” in the new personal computer reality. The book was well out-of-date before it reached the bookstores. In those days, there were small bookstores scattered throughout all major cities and most smaller towns had bookstores, often near the town’s railroad station. The big chains that we came to know did not really exist (Barnes and Noble was known then primarily as a seller of new and used textbooks). During this time, publishers were working with consultants to link Apple IIs and IBM PCs directly to typesetters to eliminate the need for re-keying of books. Although this was relatively easy to accomplish from a hardware standpoint, it required either the author or the editor to enter rather arcane codes to instruct the typesetter when to break page, what to print in bold or italics, etc. What the computer / publishing world was looking for was a “WYSIWYG” (“What You See Is What You Get”) system; a system where what the writer saw on her / his computer screen was exactly what would appear on the printed page (including graphics, multicolumns, large fonts, etc.). The production problem was solved with the advent of the Apple LaserWriter, the concurrent availability of “PostScript” (a “Page Definition Language” that provided WYSIWG capabilities to the Macintosh when used with a printer / typesetter containing a “PostScript” processor) from Adobe, and “PageMaker” from Aldus, a “Page Layout Program” that allowed text and graphics, multi-columns, various fonts, and appearance -- in short, the features that we expect to see in a book, magazine, or newspaper. While the Apple LaserWriter was the first PostScript device, other high quality printers and typesetters soon followed and PageMaker was followed by Quark Express and both were ported to the IBM PC when Windows 3 became commonplace on that platform. In subsequent years, all publishers began accepting manuscripts in digital format -- by e-mail or delivered on diskette or USB drive. As the methods of production changed, so did the make up of the industry. Technological changes in billing and payment (Electronic Data

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Commercial & Investment Properties

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

CREATIVE DISRUPTION

Publishing Continued from page 7 Sony, for example) but they had little success due to limited inventory of books, a rather “klunky” method of getting books to the reader (e-books would be found on line via a PC connection, downloaded to the PC and, then transferred to the reader via a USB connection). This all changed in November 2007 when Amazon introduced the “Kindle,” a light weight device that received e-books directly from Amazon via a wireless connection. In a little over four years, the Kindle has revolutionized the industry -- by July 2010, Amazon was selling more e-books than hardcover books, it had introduced a number of Kindle models (including the recent “Kindle Fire”) and had released Kindle “apps” for the Apple iPhone and iPad, the Macintosh, and Windows systems, allowing the purchase and reading of e-books for all those platforms (if a customer had downloaded the same book on multiple platforms, there would only be one charge and all

platforms would sync the current reader location in the book). Barnes and Noble introduced its version of an e-book reader, the “Nook,” allowing direct downloads from Barnes & Noble’s inventory and began to divert its focus from big box stores to a provider of electronic books and devices.The rapid move to e-books by Amazon and Barnes & Noble and their success in this area proved too much for its prime competitor, Borders, which closed its doors in 2011. The digital revolution came back full circle to the production cycle with the advent of “POD” (“Publishing On Demand”) services. Throughout the history of publishing, there has been a niche called “self-publishing,”also referred to as “vanity publishing,” where an author pays a printing service to produce some number of books from a manuscript with the price of this process running into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. Electronic interfaces refined this process and firms sprung up to accept input from authors and prepare the necessities for the printing of books. Here the process diverges

from “self-publishing” in that books are not printed until they are actually ordered -- hence “Publishing On Demand”. The POD services offered some marketing support and editing services but the very basic plans usually cost multi-hundred dollars. Once again, enter Amazon! Its subsidiary, CreateSpace’s basic POD development costs the author under $20 (with additional features available at higher costs) and the books are almost immediately available on Amazon. Customers purchase the books on-line through Amazon and the author receives monthly royalty checks (disclaimer -- I have books available on Amazon published through this process). Major traditional publishers have adopted the POD model for after the initial demand for a title subsides, eliminating the need for maintaining large inventories in warehouses. There have been major changes in the last thirty years in the world of books, all benefiting the consumer. Yet, “under the radar” of most consumers, there has been great disruption

the celebration in the promise of freedoms and the ensuing discourse. Abdalla was no stranger to the music and visual arts culled from the streets of Alexandria. After finishing his music studies, he developed an interest in filmmaking. Filmmaking drove him toward learning the art of film editing in 1995 when new non-linear software started to emerge and to replace the commonly used ways of cutting film negatives. During the following six years, a self-tutored Abdalla acquired great experience in editing documentaries and shorts only to become the first Egyptian to use the newly released Final Cut Software to edit feature films like the comedy Mediterranean Man by director Sherif Mandour and the drama Eye of the Sun by Ibrahim El-Batout. Editing the works of other

director did not stop Abdalla of writing his first screenplay that got the support of Mandour who decided to produce the film, giving his multi-talented film editor his first breakthrough. After the successful premiere at Abu Dhabi Film Festival and a special mention at Cairo Film Festival, Abdalla reunited with the two stars of Heliopolis Khaled Abol-Naga, and Youssra El-Lozy in Microphone that debuted in Toronto and Vancouver only to receive the Golden Tanit, the prime prize in Carthage festival few month before the Tunisian revolution. Strangely enough, the Tunisian audience was fully absorbed by the film whose story reflected the state of the art and young people across many Arab countries. Microphone tells a simple ensemble story told in an unconventional way through the music and the art of underground artists and musical groups in Alexandria. The script is almost improvised after an extensive workshop created by Abdalla with Alexandrians who appear for the first time on celluloid. Shot documentary style with a free shaky camera, the film catches glimpses of Alexandria streets where those struggling teens are looking for a breakthrough that never comes from the national organizations. All the film’s “strings” are attached to the main character Khaled (AbolNaga) who returns to Alexandria after seven years in New York in order to win back his old love Hadeer (Menna Shalaby). But the scene of their rendezvous is interwoven throughout the

within the industry. Gone are those who inputted material for typesetters, workers in local book stores, warehouse workers, those involved in the distribution process, many publishing house executives, editors, salespersons, and clerical workers. The world changes around us. Sometimes, we recognize the changes as they happen. Most times we do not. John F. McMullen has been involved in technology for over 40 years and has written about it for major publications. He may be found on Facebook and his current non-technical writing, a novel, “The Inwood Book” and “New & Collected Poems by johnmac the bard” are available on Amazon. He is a professor at Purchase College and has previously taught at Monroe College, Marist College and the New School For Social Research.

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Sound of the Spring By SHERIF AWAD Throughout two feature films to his credit, Egyptian writer-director Ahmad Abdalla has proven a remarkable talent in predicting the uprising in his native Egypt, and the whole of the land mass engulfed by the Arab Spring. Propagating in film festivals around the world, Heliopolis and Microphone showed the turmoil in a country on the verge of exploding while its young artists and musicians were in search of their respective voices to be heard and their talents expressed as they would engage in

Graffitti Artists

Youssra El-Lozy

Khaled Abol-Naga movie that follows Khaled in his discovery of the young countercultural artists of Alexandrian rap and metal and his attempts to set a concert for them in any national theater. But of course his efforts find lots of stumbling blocks of bureaucracy, licenses and even some repulsive fundamentalists. The movie has a parallel subplot about a young couple, played by Youssra Continued on page 9

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

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CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Sound of the Spring Continued from page 8 El-Lozy and Ahmed Magdy, who are trying to direct a documentary about the artists. They later joined Khaled in his quest to bring the music to the audience. I talked to Abadalla about his successes that continue with the current release of Microphone for the first time on DVD. AWAD: Let us know the way you conceive your scripts for Heliopolis then Microphone. ABADALLA: Heliopolis was an open

Ahmad Abdalla

message to a group of people with whom I crossed path in certain chapters of my life. Instead of writing my diaries or posting my thoughts on a blog, I decided to write them as a screenplay but at that time, I did not dream it would have been made because it had very short did not surpass thirty pages. Nevertheless, Sherif Mandour became enthusiastic about the script and decided to produce it despite a tight budget, which was something I totally see as the future of filmmaking in Egypt. Microphone started as a documentary project initiated while I was once walking in the Corniche section of Alexandria only to spot a very advanced progressive graffiti with avant-garde design and powerful syllables. Because I used to make some graffiti with my friends, I started to ask around about the artist and discovered she is a young eighteen-year-old young woman called Aya Tarek. So my initial idea was to make a documentary about freedom of expressions throughout unconventional practices and I started following Aya while she was working across the streets and filming her in hours of Q&As. Later, she started to introduce me to her friends, among them, Mascara (the Arab word meaning Masquerades), a band of five girls that play original rock and metal songs in opposition of their families. I started to develop the idea as a feature with Abol-Naga as a star and producer partner with Hefzy; and here we are. AWAD: It seems that you have developed a good understanding relation with Khaled AbolNaga. How did it start? ABADALLA: I first became acquainted

with Khaled while I was editing one of his films, Kashf Hesab (Payback, 2007) by Amir Ramses, and I asked for his telephone number to propose he consider a role in the Heliopolis script. That year Khaled had four films released, one after another, and I recognized him to be accomplished for a character of the film. I also wanted to nourish the film with stars alongside newcomers to give it a plausible attraction. Although his role was small and he didn’t receive his usual star fee, he said, “Yes,” and even got Tunisian born star Heind Sabry to do the voiceover of the narrator, also for free! AWAD: In the last few years many articles and reviews have been published in Egyptian media where some journalists and film critics are seemingly still confused between the terms and definition of a “low-budget film” and an “independent film.” Many think “lowbudget” is synonymous to film of bad quality. ABADALLA: I believe that the critics that our critics who called our films (mine and that of El-Batout, for instance) independent were mistaken, because the term “independent” was created in the United States to describe movies produced outside of the protocol practiced by the likes of the major studios, such as Universal and Warner Brothers. But here in Egypt, the situation is quite different because anyone who has the necessary money can produce a film. In other words, cinema in Egypt was always independent and private because it was established through the financing provided by individuals, businessmen, or investors, who created corporate structures for film making. Furthermore, budget, (low or big) is not the criterion through we which we qualify a movie. I will give you an example which is gleaned by scrutinizing the film, In the Last Days of the City, the feature film debut by Tamer El-Saiid, starring Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, The Green Zone) in his first Egyptian film. Although that movie is “independently” produced, it was digitally shot in three different countries over five years because El-Saiid needed to continue raising money to satisfy a budget that would require over $5 Egyptian Pounds, which is not “low” by any standard. Call it “Independent,” “Digital,” or “Alternative.” Critics must look to the film itself in its final form before considering to define it. AWAD: Are world festivals the only platform or venue for showing your films? I mean what about reaping commercial success at the Box Office? ABADALLA: Last year, after premiering

in various film festivals, we recognized we were not within the same standard demanded to be able to compete with commercial films in local theaters. Both Heliopolis and Ein Shams were released onto five screens each (compared to thirty copies for a big Egyptian film). Consequently, filmgoers weren’t as exposed to our films and the distributors of those films wouldn’t consider financing a big advertising campaign for only a discrete number of cinemas. But I can proudly say that the audience who have seen Heliopolis throughout the twenty festivals in which it was entered, saw it eight-fold times over those that saw it here in Egypt. AWAD: Couldn’t we acquire the distribution pattern utilized in the States where an art-house film can be put out in limited release. I mean, thirty or forty copies in selected cities compared to the 3,000 copies of a big blockbuster? ABDALLA: Our film market has an impenetrable system that only a large number of copies could be overcome. For instance, a marketing campaign in printed media and television would break even only if the movie is widely released with a large number of copies. Even if it was decided to post ads in blogs or on Twitter or Facebook, we wouldn’t be able to reach the broader filmgoers; at least not at this point in time in Egypt. But for Microphone, I

can say its future is brighter because the enthusiasm of its co-producers Mohamed Hefzy and Khaled Abol Naga who intend to widely distribute in popular cinemas nationwide and to use its soundtrack as an additional promotion tool. In fact, it is now on DVD. AWAD: The real star in films like Heliopolis and Microphone is the subject matter being plausible to differing categories of filmgoers. Do you think this “New Wave” will attract the audience accustomed to watch commercially televised action and comedy films? ABADALLA: I think we will know when my film is put to the test among the others. My prime target is to present realistic cinema that I can be proud of at the end of the day. Anyone can watch my film and can be as well entertained regardless his age or his culture. Also note that many of us who have rapidly climbed to stardom have ultimately fallen because an audience can be fickle and not as supportive as they once were. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a film/video critic and curator. He is the film editor of Egypt Today Magazine, and the artistic director for both the Alexandria Film Festival, in Egypt, and the Arab Rotterdam Festival, in The Netherlands. He also contributes to Variety, in the United States, and Variety Arabia, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

CURRENT COMMENTARY

America, The Rising Petro Power By LARRY M. ELKIN If you are old enough to recall the 1970s, you remember when Americans lined up at gas pumps, and stations closed after a few hours of business when their

tanks ran dry. For us old-timers, who can look back on those times, it may come as a bit of a shock to learn that this year, for the first time in many decades, the United States may end up as a net exporter of gasoline. During this past September, the U.S. exported 430,000 more barrels of gasoline a day than it imported. Experts expect the trend to continue for the balance of the year, creating a trade surplus for 2011 overall. This is good news for the country because the rise in gasoline exports is part of an overall movement toward a more stable trade balance. From the second quarter to the third quarter of this year, the trade gap narrowed 7.3 percent to a deficit of $135.6 billion. The country’s total current-account deficit for the quarter was the lowest it has been in two years. A major factor in the rise of gasoline exports has been falling domestic demand. Gasoline

consumption has dropped about 8 percent since its peak in 2007, from 9.6 million barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day. In part this decline has been due to the recession, but there are other forces at play as well. Americans are driving more fuel-efficient cars. Around 70 percent of the nation’s gasoline supply is now blended with ethanol, according to the American Coalition for Ethanol, a trade group. And, because of high gas prices, more people have turned to other means of transportation, including buses, which are usually powered by diesel and sometimes by natural gas or electricity, but almost never by gasoline. In the first nine months of this year, Americans collectively took the bus 130 million more times than in the same period of 2010, a 2 percent increase. The availability of American-refined gasoline for export is also connected to the ongoing natural gas supply glut. Stored inventories of natural gas now appear set to exceed last year’s record, keeping prices at rock bottom. In response, many homeowners, particularly in the Northeast, have switched from oil heat to natural gas. That, in turn, frees up more oil to be used as diesel fuel, making diesel more cost-competitive

with gasoline. As some American drivers have switched to diesel-powered vehicles, refineries have been left with more gasoline to sell elsewhere. If this trend continues, it is possible that some makers of hybrid cars will start marrying their battery technology to diesel-powered, rather than gasoline-fueled, engines, which would further increase the gasoline surplus. But since our national economic policy seems to favor preventing growth at every turn, there is already speculation that politicians may put an artificial end to the gasoline trade surplus. The problem is that American drivers (read voters) don’t like paying high gasoline prices based on global markets when they know their own country is producing a surplus. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, told CNN Money he expects politicians to raise the idea of export restrictions, which would force refineries to keep more of their gasoline here in order to bring down prices for American drivers. I drive quite a bit, probably more than the average American. And I don’t like paying high prices for gas any more than anyone else. But I have no desire for the government to subsidize my gasoline consumption by interfering with exports. By forcing American refineries to focus on a market where there is not much demand for their products, we would succeed only in sabotaging one of our own industries just as it

is starting to provide us with a valuable trade asset. If restrictions were imposed, refiners would stop investing in improvements and expansion to U.S. refineries and, instead, would direct their investments to offshore plants, ultimately taking jobs with them. Export restrictions would also short-circuit the natural supply and demand forces powering the movement toward hybrid vehicles.This would put an end to a trend that, in the long term, promises to help us use our energy more efficiently. We need our politicians to accept the gasoline trade surplus as the good thing it is and resist driving progress away on artificially cheap gas.

and concepts. They are supposed to construct their own solutions to the problems. This theory is attributed to Dewey and Piaget when spoken of in relation to education. Mathematical programs in elementary school may appear effective, but this can be deceptive because it is when students enter middle schools from K-5 that their achievement drops. A research study from Harvard, known as “The Impact of Alternative Grade Configurations on Student Outcomes through Middle and High School,” by Guido Schwerdt and Martin R. West. (September 13, 2011), demonstrated that when middle school students’

scores who entered in either grade 6 or 7 were analyzed they “continue to fall,” especially in mathematics in schools throughout Florida. So while parents may ponder the effectiveness of a mathematics program, they should also consider that students entering grade 6 or 7 from a grade K-5 organization, or even Grade 7 from a K-6 school, have lower mathematics scores. Worse yet, these middle school students apparently do not regain the math achievement losses in grades 9 and l0. Unfortunately, they found students in the lowest half of achievement scores and ethnic minorities had “more pronounced” drops in achievement. In contrast, students entering high school from K-8 schools in grade 9 experienced a smaller drop in achievement that improved in the next grade. There are several scholars who have now decided that K-8 schools are more productive for students. They are suggesting elementary and middle schools should be changed to K-8 schools. This is one area where charter schools may be able to be molded with this configuration without disrupting the public schools concept. Schools always grapple with the need to group students in a way that is educationally beneficial. Teachers group students in the classroom; principals group students heterogeneously or homogeneously. But there is little discussion Continued on page 11

EDUCATION

Mathematics Achievement Continues to Drop By PEGGY GODFREY Parents in a Westchester school were unhappy with the Mathematics Investigations Program (MIP) being used in an elementary school. They believed children were falling behind in mathematics because “standard ways” of teaching math was improperly expressed. The principles expressed in the MIP program

emphasizes a “constructivist approach” in order to facilitate children thinking in a mathematical perspective. One parent who objected to the program had to supplement his son’s middle school mathematics with additional instruction. Children incorporate constructivism in mathematics in order to surmise solutions deduced through their own thinking process as opposed to first being taught and thereafter using rules

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

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EDUCATION

Mathematics Achievement Continues to Drop Continued from page 10 about the best school organization and what grade breakdowns are beneficial for student learning. The Harvard study has examined the important reorganizations that would be necessary to benefit students’ achievement. Other countries have different configurations. In Germany after grade 4, their students go onto secondary education schools to finish their

education. Finland has a grade 1 - 10 configuration. Alternate schools can even have kindergarten to grade 12 configurations. Another study in New York City (Rochoff and Lockwood, 2010) found when students entered middle school there was a dramatic drop in achievement. Teachers, especially in elementary schools, admit they are spending more time on mathematics and language arts because of the “high

HISTORY

stakes” testing in these areas. It has also been confirmed that teachers’ teaching time in other subjects such as social studies, art, music, and even science, in elementary school is being reduced because of testing mandates. So while additional time can be spent teaching mathematics and language arts in elementary grades, when students reach middle or high school, the “additional” time may no longer be available during the school day. This could be a contributing factor as to why middle school mathematics scores drop. Another comparison

Chester A. Smith, 1—Fighting to Make Peekskill a City By ROBERT SCOTT When the Southern states decided to leave the Union in 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott offered this mollifying advice to the North: “Say to the seceding states, ‘Wayward sisters, depart in peace.’” Similar concessionary words were not heard in the town of Cortlandt or in Westchester County 75 years ago when Peekskill, an incorporated village since 1816, wanted to become a city. The town and the county both opposed the move, and fought it fiercely every inch of the way. Peekskill’s struggle to get out from under Cortlandt’s thumb was as bitter as any quarrel between Balkan factions. In the process, Peekskill voters surprised political pundits by crossing party lines and switching loyalties to accomplish the change.

attempt to amend it, village trustees sent the charter to Albany, where the Legislature passed it. Gov. Herbert H. Lehman signed it, subject to its approval by the people of Peekskill. At a special vote held in 1938, 71% percent of Peekskill’s voters approved the charter. Opposition quickly surfaced. In a surprising about-face, Peekskill’s Republican board of trustees now demanded sweeping changes in the charter. One amendment would take away voters’ right to approve the annual city budget. Although school budget approval by voters is common today, voter approval of a municipal budget, a holdover from colonial days, was an unusual arrangement in the 1930’s. Surprisingly, too, most members of the original charter committee caved in and came out for the amendments. So, too, did all of Peekskill’s trustees. Even the influential Sentiment for Peekskill Evening Star, origiSeparation nally a charter proponent, now The movement for indesupported the amendments. pendence from the town began Chester A. Smith. Courtesy of A few stalwarts formed an in 1934 at a meeting at Peekskill Peekskill Museum Advisory Committee to Protect High School. Citizens gathered the Charter, and continued to to protest the high salaries Cortlandt officials fight for the charter as written. A Committee had voted themselves when the country was just for a New Charter opposed them. From this beginning to emerge from the Depression. contest emerged the Citizens Non-Partisan Stephen D. Horton had planted seeds of Committee, with Chester A. Smith as its selfseparation as early as 1894, when the village proclaimed head. of Peekskill had a population of less than ten In July 1939, Peekskill held a referendum thousand. Horton was Peekskill’s president. on the proposed amendments. Only a third of [“President” was an archaic title used when those who voted so overwhelmingly the year villages incorporated. It was later dropped and before turned out. Nevertheless, 56% of those replaced by the title of “Mayor.”] who voted were for leaving the charter as written. Little was done about promoting the idea In the municipal election campaign of 1939, of independence, for four decades. In 1936, the pro-charter Democrats and the anti-charter village president James Mackay, a Democrat, Republicans went head to head. Smith, a regisappointed a committee to draw up a city charter. tered Republican, and his Non-Partisan Citizens A year later the committee presented its Committee backed the Democratic slate, which proposed charter. Following an unsuccessful won handily on November 7.

Among the winners was 58-year-old James Mackay, former village president and now mayor-elect, and five Democratic candidates for the Common Council. With the defeat of the Republicans, the opponents of the charter, Chester A. Smith and his Non-Partisan Citizens Committee, became a political force to be reckoned with for a decade.

Meet Chester Smith

Chester Allen Smith would have welcomed the title of “Mr. Peekskill”--if anyone had

has been made. In the fourth and eighth grades, no statistical differences were found in the mathematics achievement scores between boys and girls. (Sparks, Education Week, 12/12/11). Looking objectively at mathematics education, we may reasonably deduce that while the programs used are important, there are other considerations, especially the grade organizations of the schools in the system. Peggy Godfrey is a freelance writer and a former educator. been enterprising enough to bestow it on him. Without question, he deserved it. His life was a latter-day Horatio Alger story. A Peekskill native, he was born on November 15, 1884, the son of Louis H. and Abbie Lent Smith. His father was a descendant of John Howell, who arrived in America on the Mayflower in 1620. His mother’s great grandfather was Isaac Lent, who fought in the Revolution. Chester Smith learned shorthand from his father, a teacher in Putnam and Westchester schools. He eventually attained a speed of 330 words per minute and became a public stenographer in Peekskill. Early in 1907 he was appointed official Continued on page 12

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

The Westchester Guardian

HISTORY

Chester A. Smith, 1—Fighting to Make Peekskill a City Continued from page 11 court stenographer in the Ninth Judicial District of the State Supreme Court and worked there for 47 years until his retirement. During World War I, Chester Smith served with the U.S. Army as a field clerk in Virginia. He was a founding member of Peekskill’s American Legion post.

Academic Honors

While working as a court stenographer, he attended Columbia College, graduating with a B.A. and General Honors in 1923. His essay entitled “The Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire”won him the Chandler Prize in History. The following year he earned an M.A. His thesis was titled “Church and State in Maryland, 1760 to 1776,” a study of the role it played in creating the Constitution’s doctrine of the separation of church and state. Chester Smith was a member of Peekskill’s United Methodist Church and, beginning in 1916, represented the church at conferences for almost fifty years. But he could also be combative and a troublesome gadfly. As a believer in the peace movement, he once tried to have the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” removed from the Methodist hymnal. Also a lifelong opponent of alcohol and cigarettes, he was years ahead of his time in pointing out the dangers of tobacco and smoking. He would never sell a piece of real estate unless the

buyer agreed that it would not be used in the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages. In 1933, he was an unsuccessful “Dry” candidate for a place on the New York delegation to ratify the 21st Amendment that repealed Prohibition. One of his greatest contributions to Peekskill was the support he gave to the Field Library. In 1920 he headed a committee to purchase the former Second Presbyterian Church on South Street for the library, which was then located on Smith Street. He secured a donation of $25,000 from James B. Ford to renovate the building. Later, he gave the library a three-story fireproof addition, the Louis H. Smith Wing, in his father’s memory. Perhaps Chester Smith’s most enterprising contribution to Peekskill was his Friendly Town Association, begun in 1920 as the Friendly Town Club. It was a one-man chamber of commerce. Largely supported by contributions from him, the Association honored Peekskill citizens for outstanding service and marked historic sites with bronze tablets. Chester Smith also encouraged local citizens to donate land to the Association from which seven parks, totaling 20 acres, were created.

Opposition from Cortlandt

The Peekskill officials elected on November 7, 1939, never took office. From the outset, the Republican town board of Cortlandt was

antagonistic to the idea of Peekskill becoming a city. The town board sued to invalidate the election. After the charter and the election were upheld in the state supreme court and the appellate division, the town of Cortlandt stubbornly took the case to the court of appeals. That court overturned both the charter and the 1939 election on the technicality that proper legal notice had not been given before the 1938 vote approving the charter. Undaunted, Chester Smith announced that he would make an end run by having the State Legislature confirm the charter. Myle J. Holley, Peekskill’s village president since 1937, openly opposed the charter. Smith called for him to step down--which he did on January 13, 1940. For eight days Peekskill was without a president or mayor. D. Wiley Travis, Jr., another member of the Peekskill board of trustees, was named President on January 21, 1940.

Victory at Last

In the meantime, the bill that would have validated Peekskill’s charter languished in the Legislature, awaiting a special message from Governor Lehman requesting its passage. Taking the bull by the horns, Chester Smith telephoned the governor in Albany and asked him to meet with a delegation from Peekskill. The governor agreed. At their meeting on February 27, 1940, in the governor’s office in Albany, Chester Smith

pointed out that Cortlandt was standing in the way of Peekskill becoming a city. He asked Lehman to send a message to the Legislature requesting passage of the legislation that would make this a reality. Ever the smooth politician, the governor demurred.“Go back and petition the Westchester board of supervisors again,” Lehman told them. Speaking for the group of four from Peekskill, Smith pointedly asked, “And if they deny the petition again, will you stand with us and ask the Legislature to pass the validating act?” The governor, a Democrat, made no reply, but Smith took his subtle smile as evidence of his agreement. Again the Westchester board of supervisors turned down the Non-Partisan Citizens Committee’s petition. Lehman sent his message to the Legislature, and the Legislature acted. Governor Lehman’s signature on the bill marked the end of the city’s long and painful birthing process. The town of Cortlandt had lost the costly litigious battle. One hurdle remained: another election-this time on April 9, 1940. Again voters spoke loud and clear. James Mackay and the Democratic slate were again elected, some by impressive margins of two to one. Peekskill officially became a city on April 12, 1940. Next week Robert Scott concludes this two-part series with his article titled, “Chester A. Smith, 2: Fighting Peekskill’s City Hall.”

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Nigeria’s Christmas Present: Blown Up Christians By RAYMOND IBRAHIM First published in  Hudson New York, December 28, 2011, and replicated with express permission.

Several churches in northern Nigeria were bombed December 25, in what has been described as “Nigeria’s blackest Christmas ever.” The attacks, perpetrated by the Muslim militant group Boko Haram, killed at least 39 people, “the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church [in Madalla near the capital of Abuja] after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.” Charred bodies and dismembered limbs lay scattered around the destroyed church. As usual, the world offered the requisite, if perfunctory, condemnations. Of note, however, is the word so many Western leaders, from the White House to the Vatican, used to characterize this latest Muslim attack on Christians—”senseless”—a word that implies no motive, no goal, no rhyme, no reason. Although Boko Haram has been bellowing

its straightforward and far from “senseless” goals for a decade—enforcing Sharia law and, in conjunction, subjugating if not eliminating Nigeria’s Christians—one can see why so many are decrying the Christmas Day bombings as “senseless”: the mainstream media’s coverage offers little by way of context or continuity concerning the attacks. Consider the New York Times’ coverage, as reported by Adam Nossiter, in an article titled “Nigerian Group Escalates Violence With Church Attacks”: The sect, known as Boko Haram, until now mostly targeted the police, government and military in its insurgency effort, but the bombings on Sunday represented a new, religion-tinged front, a tactic that threatens to exploit the already frayed relations between Nigeria’s nearly evenly split populations of Christians and Muslims… This sentence is fraught with problems. For starters, Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigerian Christians for years, killing thousands of them, and destroying hundreds of their churches. Considering that just last Christmas Eve, 2010, Boko Haram bombed

several churches, killing nearly 40 Christian worshippers, the New York Times’ characterization of these latest attacks as “represent[ing] a new, religion-tinged front” is not only unconscionable, but unprofessional. Boko Haram—whose full name in Arabic is “People of Sunna for Da’wa [Islamization] and Jihad [Holy War]”—has, for a decade, been representing a very “religion-tinged front,” that is, an Islamic front, one that is hostile to all things non-Muslim, with Christians at the very top. In just the last couple of months, Boko Haram has carried out attacks on dozens of other churches, bombing some, torching others. In one instance, they opened fire on a congregation of mostly women and children, killing dozens; they executed two children of an ex-terrorist because he converted to Christianity; they murdered Christian pastors in cold blood; they “went to shops owned by Christians, ordering them to recite verses from the Quran,” killing those who could not. Just last month, hundreds of armed Muslims from Boko Haram invaded Christian villages, “like a swarm of bees,” killing, looting, and destroying. At the end of their four-hour rampage, at least 130 Christians were killed. Forty-five other Christians in another village

were slaughtered by another set of “Allahu Akbar!” screaming Muslims. Hundreds of Christians are missing; thousands have fled the region. Of course, you would not know any of this reading Nossiter’s NYT report, which asserts that Boko Haram’s attacks on Christians are somehow “new.” The report willfully refracts reality through the approved paradigm of political-correctness—a paradigm that always minimizes or ignores Muslim persecution of Christians around the world (lest it appear to “side” with Christians), while always putting the best spin on Muslim violence (lest it appear critical of Islam). Moreover, the assertion that there are “already frayed relations between Nigeria’s nearly evenly split populations of Christians and Muslims” suggests both camps are equally hostile—even as one seeks in vain for Christian terror groups that bomb mosques in Nigeria to screams of “God is Greatest!” The report goes on to offer more canards, including the suggestion that the Nigerian government’s “heavy-handed” response to the terrorists is responsible for their terror: Critics of the government campaign against Boko Haram say that the effort has not only Continued on page 13

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

Page 13

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Nigeria’s Christmas Present: Blown Up Christians Continued from page 12 failed but has increased the sect’s appeal, because the security forces’ heavy-handed tactics have given it new sympathizers. The NYT report even manages to insert another mainstream media favorite: the myth that poverty-causes-terrorism—this despite the acres of evidence that many of the most

notorious Islamic terrorists are well educated and come from wealthy families, and that the terrorists’ Christian victims are often worse off than they. Regardless: The sect’s attacks have been further bolstered by festering economic resentment in the impoverished and relatively neglected north, which has an exploding birthrate, low levels of literacy and

mass unemployment. In short, Boko Haram’s actions have been anything but “senseless”: its terror campaign has seen Christians reduced in number—whether by killing them off or tormenting them into fleeing their villages—and has seen hundreds of churches eliminated. These results correspond quite well with Boko Haram’s own stated goals of creating an anti-infidel Sharia state. “Senseless” is better reserved for the New

York Times and other mainstream media that— by disinfecting, delousing, and deodorizing events until they correspond to the ideals of their writers and editorial boards—distort and lie about the truth.

because the malpractice attorney did not have a case, and could not find a credible expert witness. But the case seemed to center on two things. 1. The patient admitted that she was told she could die from the test, but not that she might suffer a stroke.   2. That I acted inappropriately in ordering a coronary angiogram and not a nuclear stress test. I believe the plaintiff ’s attorney also tried to insinuate that I asked for the angiogram because coronary angiograms pay more.  The facts are that the patient signed not one, but two informed consents with the possibility of stroke mentioned on each of them – the duplication occurred because her initial date was canceled after she arrived to the hospital with flu-like symptoms, and after she reviewed and signed the consent. She returned a week later and repeated the process. The angiogram was done not because of any financial reward (I am actually paid over two times as much by insurers to perform a nuclear stress test vs. an angiogram) but because it is the procedure recommended in the guidelines published by the American College of Cardiology.   As the years went by I was asked over and

over again to review the case with my attorney, who felt I was not part of the team because I was reluctant to waste another day dealing with this dreadful case instead of caring for my patients. I remember telling him, “You tell me I am not a team player. I guess I cannot be part of the team when you are earning thousands of dollars for this case, getting paid for every minute you spend with me, and asking me to neglect my patients and come visit you to review your case. When I get paid, like you do, then perhaps, I will be more motivated to be part of your team.”   In the end, perhaps seeing that his case was going nowhere, the plaintiff ’s lawyer asked the hospital to offer him a settlement. On the condition that he agreed that none of the doctors were at fault, the plaintiff ’s attorney accepted an offer of $25,000: about $8,000 for him for his ten years of work, and the rest to the plaintiff and her family. Evan S. Levine, MD FACC is the author of “What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t) Tell You” and a practicing cardiologist in Westchester and The Bronx. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Levine can be reached at 914-237-1332 or direct mailto:VaNLeV@aol.com.

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

MEDICINE

Medical Malpractice – The Real Story By Dr. EVAN LEVINE While I believe that medical malpractice is endemic in the United States, I urge readers also to understand the burden under which every doctor has to practice. This burden can be expressed as a simple question: Can anyone be expected to be right 100% of the time? All physicians practice with the fear that one day we may be sued, and sued for more than their malpractice insurance covers. Would anyone wish to work under these conditions? What most people don’t realize is that poor outcomes do not necessarily mean malpractice. All procedures have risks. All medications have risks. Yet, some malpractice attorneys, in carefully thought out business decisions, seek out cases with huge potential pay-offs, even if no malpractice is involved. They then try to spin these cases to make it seem that there was malpractice involved because if they convince the jury, there is a huge payday awaiting them. I was sued over a case once and I will never forget it. The case dragged on for years, which meant that I had to reveal in every reappointment to every hospital and insurance plan that I had been named in a lawsuit. My attorneys told me that I needed to ready for the case; that it might go to court at any time, even as I was preparing for my honeymoon, and that I would have to arrange my schedule to ensure that I was available. As a matter of policy, my insurance company told me that I should be in court every day, even if the case dragged on for weeks, and even if it meant I would not be able to see my patients; they do this because they feel that the jury will perceive the defendant as uncaring if he does not show up each day.    It seemed to me that none of the lawyers, either the malpractice attorney or my defense team, seemed to care about the patient or the doctor. What most of the businessmen involved seemed really to care about was the money. What was really hurtful was the fact that I was even sued. The patient had first seen another cardiologist who had missed the fact that she had suffered a heart attack. She only learned of

the heart attack after coming to see me for an opinion. I repeated an echocardiogram, at no cost to her, and told her that the previous doctor had incorrectly read her study – and that while he had said that she had not had a heart attack, it was quite clear to me that she had. I placed her on medications that possibly saved her life and sent her for a coronary angiogram.    During this angiogram the patient suffered a stroke that resulted, in what she claimed, was some type of periodic visual disturbance. The doctor who performed the angiogram was sued as well, though the complication was not an uncommon one. Much of the suit, however, centered on why I had sent the patient for the angiogram. Again, no party ever expressed concern about the doctor who got the diagnosis wrong --- the angiogram confirmed everything I said --- even though he had clearly missed identifying the heart attack – MI (Myocardial Infarction) in this patient.   The case dragged on for years, possibly

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

The Westchester Guardian

MEDICINE

Montefiore to Participate as Medicare Pioneer Accountable Care Organization

New Model Designed to Offer Better Care to Beneficiaries through Partnership with Medicare THE BRONX, NY—Montefiore Medical Center last week announced its Bronx Accountable Healthcare Network (BAHN), has been selected to participate as a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO), a transformative new initiative sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center. Montefiore’s ACO is one of only 32 organizations in the nation, as well as the only one in New York State, to operate under this new model of providing Medicare beneficiaries with higher quality care, while reducing expenditures through enhanced care coordination. Since 1996, Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has been a pioneer in developing new healthcare delivery and payment systems. Montefiore has extensive experience contracting with health plans to provide innovative care management services. CMS estimates that approximately 24,000 traditional Medicare beneficiaries in The Bronx will be served by care coordination options from the Montefiore ACO because of their current or past use of one or more of Montefiore’s 2,400 employed and community-based physicians. If

Montefiore meets quality standards based on patient outcomes, patient experience and care coordination over the three-year period currently contemplated for the Pioneer program, it will share a percentage of the savings generated over time. “As an academic medical center with a truly integrated delivery system and unique focus on the community, Montefiore has been practicing accountable care long before the acronym ACO was developed,” said Steven M. Safyer, MD, President and CEO Montefiore Medical Center.“Being a Pioneer ACO is consistent with our vision of transforming health care delivery by aligning incentives toward performance rather than fee-for-service transactions, resulting in more patient-centered, coordinated care.” “At Montefiore, we have embarked on a path that has allowed us to provide excellent healthcare to an extremely challenged community,” said Joel A. Perlman, Executive Vice President of Finance at Montefiore Medical Center and President of the ACO. “We have formed a highly integrated team of physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and other caregivers that has enabled us to track and maintain the health of our patients,

whether they get care in our ambulatory care centers, our hospitals and community doctors’ offices and even in their own homes.” “By focusing on preventing health problems rather than just treating them, Montefiore is a pioneering and proactive care provider,” said Stephen Rosenthal, President and CEO of the Care Management Company (CMO) of Montefiore Medical Center and Chief Operating Office of the ACO. “With the start of the Pioneer ACO program in January, we will identify the Medicare “fee for service” beneficiaries most in need of care coordination and implement interventions immediately.” The Pioneer ACO is one of a number of initiatives developed by the new Innovation Center to test new models of health care delivery and payment. The Montefiore ACO was chosen in a competitive process in which it demonstrated its experience in coordinating

care for patients across multiple care settings and working with innovative payment models. Unlike a managed care plan, Medicare beneficiaries in a Pioneer ACO will maintain the ability to see any doctor or healthcare provider, continue to receive the full benefits associated with traditional Medicare as well as receive the ACOs augmented care management services. “These Pioneer ACOs represent our nation’s leaders in health systems innovation, providing highly coordinated care for patients at lower costs,” said Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator of CMS. “Montefiore’s Pioneer ACO has demonstrated significant experience in providing high quality, coordinated care, and we are excited to partner with them.” As the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore is a premier academic medical center nationally renowned for its clinical excellence, scientific discovery and commitment to its community. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org and www.montekids.org and follow us on Twitter @MontefioreNews.

MENTAL CALISTHENICS

Puns for Educated Minds By WK PFISTERER 1. The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi. 2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian. 3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still. 4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption. 5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery. 6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering. 7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart. 8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie. 9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization. 12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’ 13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me. 14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: ‘Keep off the Grass.’ 15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran. 17. A backward poet writes inverse. 18. In a democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism it’s your count that votes. 20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you’d be in Seine.

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, ‘I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.’ 22. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too. 23. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, ‘I’ve lost my electron.’ The other says ‘Are you sure?’ The first replies, ‘Yes, I’m positive.’ 24. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did. Werner K. Pfisterer, MD, MSEd retired from Mt. Sinai Hospital in 2006 as an Anesthesiologist and is currently a concerned citizen dedicated to the political education of our citizenry.

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW

Ed Koch Movie Reviews By Edward I. Koch

Movie Review: “In the Land of Blood and Honey” (+)

In Sarajevo the Serbs begin to ethnically cleanse the neighborhood by rounding up Muslim men, women and children. After the men are marched away, the sound of firing machine guns can be heard, indicating they have all been murdered. The women and children are put on buses. When they reach their destination, one woman is raped in front of the other women who then know what is in store for them. The film was written and directed by Angelina Jolie. While not a documentary, we know the events did in fact occur over a period of years until peace was achieved as a result of President Bill Clinton’s intervention. During the civil war the Srebrenica massacre occurred when 6,000 Muslim men, under the protection of Dutch soldiers, representatives of the U.N., were taken away by the Serbian Army and murdered. The crawl at the end of the film states that 30,000 Bosnian (Muslim) women were raped. There is no question that the atrocities depicted in the picture did in fact occur. I believe they were met with equal atrocities

committed by the Muslims against the Serbs. Neither side conducted itself with honor. Two top Serbs, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic were captured after years on the run and are currently on trial for war crimes. In the film Danijel is a captain in the police force where his father is a top commander. He saves Ajla from being raped by other Serbs and keeps her in custody as his mistress until his father ends that affair in a monstrous way. I am not an auteur capable of commenting on Jolie’s directing, so I’ll leave that to others. I am able to comment on the script, however, and the problem I had with the movie is that the story between Ajla and Danijel is inadequately drawn. Nevertheless, the civil religious war and the brutal actions of those involved are so monstrous, they overcome the weakness of the script and make the film worth seeing. An even better film with a much better story depicting a comparable war between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon with atrocities on both sides is “Incendies.” You can and should get it on video.

Movie Review: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (+)

the role in the 1966 Broadway production of the show. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” based on a novel written by Stieg Larsson, is a brilliant film noir. This was the first book of his trilogy known as the “Millennium series.” The manuscript of his uncompleted forth novel is, I believe, the subject of an estate dispute between Larsson’s family and his longtime partner, Eva Gabrielsson. The story in both films is the same. A magazine investigative reporter, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), loses a libel action and is ordered to pay a large fine and spend three months in prison. Because he is considering bankruptcy, he accepts an assignment by an industrialist, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), to investigate the disappearance and purported death of Vanger’s niece 40 years ago. Vanger also asks Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to use her investigative skills to check out Blomkvist’s background. When she vouches for him, she is asked by Vanger to team up with Blomkvist on the investigation. They ultimately discover what happened

to the young girl and during the investigation learn details about the twisted Vanger family which includes several brothers and their children. Two of the brothers are identified as Nazis. Although they live in mansions on the same island, the brothers’ families do not speak to one another. Before it is over we see Michael subjected to torture and Lisbeth involved in both a heterosexual and lesbian affair. We learn that Lisbeth was recently released from a mental institution and is required to report periodically to her guardian, Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen). One of the most memorable moments in the story is Lisbeth’s response to the sadistic conduct of Bjurman which was carried out far better in the original film. The new movie is very entertaining and I’m glad that I saw it but, as I stated before, the original version topped the copy.

The powerful subject of this movie involves the civil war in Bosnia between the Serbs who are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians and the Bosnians who are overwhelmingly Muslim. The Catholic Croatians are not involved. Historically during World War II, the Croatians and the Bosnians sided with Hitler and Nazi Germany and the Serbs were on the side of the allies against Hitler. The ancient hatred among these three groups vis-à-vis one another is more religious than ethnic. The film begins in 1992 just before the start of the civil war. A single Muslim woman, Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), meets a Serbian man, Danijel (Goran Kostic), at a dance hall for an evening of fun. It is not clear whether this is their first or latest date, but they are clearly taken with one another. A bomb then explodes and everything changes.

The original 2009 Swedish version of this film, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, was far better than this American adaptation directed by David Fincher. The cast was also better in the original movie. The two principal actors in the English version, Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, do a competent job, but their performances don’t compare with the extraordinary acting of Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace in the Swedish picture. That is usually the case when a movie or play is revived for the screen or the stage, but not always. In my opinion, Patti LuPone’s portrayal of Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of “Gypsy” was equal to or better than Ethel Merman’s portrayal of the character in the 1959 Broadway production. Alan Cumming’s performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the 1993 revival of “Cabaret” was also equal to or better than that of Joel Grey who originated

The Honorable Edward Irving Koch served as a member of member of Congress from New York State from 1969 through 1977, and New York City as its 105th Mayor from 1978 to 1989.

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

THE SPOOF

THE RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE FIELD P LAYHOUSE ROCK SERIES THURS, JAN 19 @ 8

Nike Air Jordan Sneakers; The Real Reason People Fight to Buy Them By GAIL FARRELLY

Vince Neil Tattoos & Tequila Tour Singing Motley Crüe Hits “Home Sweet Home”, “Wild Side”, “Looks That Kill” and new solo album songs!

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Javier Colon

The pushing and shoving, the brawls, the pepper spray. That’s what some people wanting to snag themselves a pair of the latest Nike Air Jordans have had to endure. Is it worth it? Those in the know say, “YES!” This is a product beyond compare. Here’s the scoop. Remember in The Wizard of Oz the magical value of Dorothy’s ruby red shoes? Y’know, click the heels together and they’ll take you home. The new Air Jordans have a similar, but enhanced, ability. Put them on, click the heels together, and they’ll take you

ANYWHERE you want to go. For most folks, that’s not home. It’s to the local pub or a not-so-local one, to a favorite vacation spot in the Bahamas, to a Broadway show, or maybe even right to the front of a supermarket line! And there’s more. Politicians doing badly in polls can don their Air Jordans and quickly vault themselves to the head of the pack of contenders. Kids jumping rope can jump as high as they want and return to the ground safely. Those interested in space travel can say, “Fly me to the moon,” click their Air Jordans, and be having a conversation with the Man in the Moon in a few

minutes. Some advice -- just in case you’re heading out to the mall to buy a pair of these babies. Prepare yourself for battle. Put up your dukes and dress in full body armor. You’ll be glad you did. Once you have your new Air Jordans, you’ll be up, up, and away! What better way to celebrate the arrival of 2012? Learn more about The Farrelly Sisters - Authors online.

EYE ON THEATRE

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The Best and The Worst Of The Year By John Simon Herewith my contribution to the past year’s best and worst, based on the shows I caught. One most favorably reviewed show did not provide me with tickets because it got the all-important nod from the Times and several others; another, even without this benediction, ignored us marginal reviewers. I list in alphabetical order, because the truly best and absolute worst are tricky matters to calibrate. The best first. “Anything Goes,” is a revival of the wonderful Cole Porter musical, with a genuinely funny book and terrific lyrics and tunes. The production is splendidly directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, an had, among other good things, the amazing Sutton Foster as the female lead. “Children,” by A. R. Gurney, was a revival of that prolific playwright’s early play, a little less effective than later works, but still a witty and incisive sampling of the lives of WASPs, the affluent, upper-bourgeois class, whose Herodotus and Thucydides Gurney is, and the production was excellent, too. “50 Words” was an early play by Michael Weller in a topnotch production. It is a wise and witty look at marriage and divorce, especially as they impinge on, or are affected by, society and politics. It deserved longer exposure than its limited run. “Follies” may well be Stephen Sondheim’s best musical, and, ipso facto, one of the greatest musicals ever. It concerns love, marriage, and show business, and is one of the extremely rare musicals in which every number rates an A plus. This revival is far from perfect, but dazzles and

elates even in a lesser production well worth catching. “Lemon Sky” was one of the admirable Lanford Wilson’s earlier, not yet fully mature works, but even so contains much that is firstrate. Primarily about an explosive father-and-son relationship, it covers a number of other interesting issues, among others the vicissitudes of extended-family living in a troubling Southern California milieu. Especially noteworthy are its insights into various kinds of sexuality. “Master Class” was a revival of Terrence McNally’s sassy and highly knowledgeable comedy about Maria Callas teaching a master class. The diva was extremely difficult—self-centered, sarcastic, imperiously demanding—perhaps even more so in McNally’s possibly heightened version—but if so, merely truer than true. Although Tyne Daly may not have been the ideal Callas, she was good enough, and so, even more, was the production. “Neighborhood Watch” is one of the great Alan Ayckbourn’s somewhat lesser plays, but that extraordinary serio-comic playwright (this, at age 72, is his 75th work and still counting) far surpasses, even at his second-best, almost every other comic playwright in top form. Superbly directed by the author, with the expert British cast from his splendid English regional theater, “Neighborhood Watch” concerns the comic, bizarre, and frightening goings on in a supposedly civil middle-class housing development, terrorized by members of a neighboring lower-class one, but also confounded by its own shenanigans. One should never miss an Ayckbourn show. “The Normal Heart,” by Larry Kramer,

was a brilliant revival of his play about the initial phases of the AIDS epidemic, before it was fully understood, let alone adequately dealt with. It is a very nearly documentary work, incisive on both an epic, societal level and on an intimate, personal one, managing to be both tragic and witty. As directed by Joe Mantello and sovereignly acted, it should have had a much longer run. “Other Desert Cities,”by Jon Robin Baitz, is a delayed transfer of a successful Lincoln Center Theater production to Broadway. With only a couple of utterly satisfactory cast changes. this is the worthy playwright’s best effort yet, dealing wittily and perspicaciously—even searingly— with the convulsions in an upper-class Southern California family at a definitely Santa Clausless Christmas time. Equally riveting in its psychological and sociopolitical aspects, it touches on any number of universally human as well as intensely individual issues. Perfectly designed and directed, and still running strong on Broadway, it is an absolute must. “Queen of the Mist,” is Michael-John LaChiusa’s Off Off Broadway, fact-based musical about a remarkable middle-aged woman, the first person to successfully cross Niagara Falls in a barrel, albeit without reaping the rewards of her amazing achievement. LaChiusa is the rare author—book, lyrics and music—of musicals that could stand up both on Broadway and in an opera house, but may be too good for the ordinary man. Its gallant. strippeddown production at least enjoyed a sold-out limited run in its modest venue—a converted basketball court. Honorable mention also to “War Horse” and Stephen Karam’s “Sons of the Prophet.” Please note how many of the above are revivals, and draw the appropriate conclusions about the present. And now, briefly, about the ten worst. Continued on page 17

The Westchester Guardian

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

Page 17

EYE ON THEATRE seemed more like algolagnia. “High” featured Kathleen Turner as a nun, which, unbelievably, was the least of its problems. Tony Kushner’s “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures” did not even deserve the number of words in its title, let alone its inordinate length. “King Lear,” the Public Theater version, sported Sam Waterston as an abysmal Lear, and everything else pretty much up to its bottomless degradation of a masterpiece. “Once,” a worthless musical, received reviews that guarantee

The Best and The Worst Of The Year Continued from page 16 “Bonnie & Clyde,” by the unfortunately unstoppable Frank Wildhorn, is a perfectly otiose, has-beenish musical, which, at any rate, is properly about to close. Not yet closing is an equally appalling comedy, the mirthless and preposterous “Close Up Space,” still running despite poor (but not poor enough) reviews. “Completeness,” was a play about computer addicts, probably boring even for them, never mind the rest of us, for whom its algorithms

its forthcoming totally undeserved transfer to Broadway. Similarly well reviewed was a piece of garbage called “Lysistrata Jones,” now dragging out a miserable existence on Broadway, not for much longer, I hope. “The Mountaintop,” by Katori Hall, made shockingly poor use of a fictionalized version of Martin Luther King’s last night on earth, but is still running on the protagonist’s name and two undeservedly good performances. As my tenth and eleventh exhibit, in neighboring theaters, played “The Shoemaker” and “The Sphinx Winx,” the latter at least containing a titular warning. Happy New Year, and may it be a theatrically

even better one. I hope, dear readers, that you find my reviews helpful. 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. 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

TRAVEL

Sea Dreaming

Not the Destination but the Journey By BARBARA BARTON SLOANE “Our truest life is when we are in our dreams, awake,” –Henry David Thoreau

but life at sea is better.” Think about it: cruising lets you share a front porch with a billionaire, your view the very same beautiful sea, blue sky and if you’re lucky, cavorting porpoises and I was awake yet was, most definitely, in a dream the occasional leaping whale. The boarding – the SeaDream Yacht to be precise. Cruising process always puts happy, fluttering butterflies along the Amalfi Coast of Italy, heading toward inside me, and being greeted before mounting ports I’d only fantasized about, it was a pinchthe gangplank by a handsome crewmember myself moment. proffering a Yes, this was celebratory glass true life. Let the of champagne dreaming begin! set exactly the This year right tone. It just marks the 10th got better from anniversary of there when, the SeaDream upon boarding, Yacht Club, we stepped into whose motto is an already-in“It’s yachting, not progress festive cruising.” That cocktail party it is. It’s a family hosted by the owned company, Captain. conceived by Every stateNorwegian entreroom has a large preneur Atle window with an Brynestad with ocean view and a maximum of the color scheme 112 guests on echoes that scene board and catered with navy, white to by an awardand beige. My winning crew bathroom was of 95, insuring SeaDream nightdeck. taupe-colored that you will be marble, and my bed was dressed in white “Splendidly Spoiled” and receive the most Belgian linen.There was champagne cooling in a incomparable service at sea, bar none. In fact, silver bucket, a comfy sofa and a large flat screen Conde Nast Traveler magazine recently ranked TV. Heaven. SeaDream number one in the category of small On board, the SeaDream offers a host of ships with a higher score than any other cruise amenities and fun activities. Yoga is offered daily, ship regardless of category. there’s a well-equipped fitness center, and a ThaiCruising is my favorite mode of travel, and in themed spa, the only one of its kind at sea. From that I’m not alone; even the esteemed Sir Francis the moment you rise, your dining is going to be Drake said “It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful, a fine gourmet experience. I looked forward each

The SeaDream Yacht.

morning to dining al fresco on the pretty upper deck, and evenings, as I entered the dining room, I was asked if I wished to be alone or if I felt a bit sociable. I usually chose the latter and had the opportunity to meet my attractive and appealing neighbors. After dinner, we typically sauntered up to the Top of the Yacht Bar where we were serenaded with our favorites by a piano or guitar. When in port, one can choose from a choice of custom-designed land adventures. If one stays on board, this vessel offers experiences unique to cruising: the yacht is able to lower a water sports platform which allows guests to enjoy swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, windsurfing and jet skiing! Another distinctive feature of this yacht is their luxurious on-deck Balinese Dream Beds. Each afternoon, this is where I could be found. I’d raise the bed for an unobstructed view and simply relax, watching the world go by, a favorite libation close at hand. At night, one has the option of sleeping under the stars on one of these beds made up with a fluffy down comforter and pillows. “Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars….” Voila: your own private star-studded

playground, an oasis of perfect tranquility and an experience like nothing before. In true yachting fashion, our SeaDream cruise took us to delightful, intimate yachting harbors where sometimes large cruise ships cannot go. We visited Positano, with its Flavio Gioia Square and the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption housing a Byzantine black Madonna with Child. Another port was the mythical island of Sardinia. In Corsica, its rugged mountains and lakes of glass offered breathtaking photo opportunities. From Amalfi’s harbor, a car took us up narrow, twisting and winding, white-knuckle roads to Ravello, one of the most famous spots on the Amalfi Coast and home in the past to Greta Garbo, Gore Vidal and D.H. Lawrence. Romantic Sorrento offered a high-point lookout where we could spy the ruins of Pompeii. Finally, one day we heard a crewmember shout: “Here comes Capri!” Now I ask you, can there ever be a happier, more thrillproducing call? John Steinbeck once said, “The Amalfi Coast bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t Continued on page 18

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

The Westchester Guardian

TRAVEL

Sea Dreaming

GovernmentSection MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN

The News is All Good

By MARY C. MARVIN

SeaDream crewmember.

Continued from page 17 quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” One can say the very same of the SeaDream Yacht. Aboard, the experience is not quite real but once you’ve debarked, its siren call of style, quality and casual perfection beckons you back – again and again. If You Go: www.SeaDream.com info@SeaDream.com Tel: 305-631-6100 Travel Editor, Barbara Barton Sloane is constantly globe-hopping to share her unique experiences with our readers; from the exotic to the sublime. As Fashion Ms Sloane keeps us informed on the capricious and engaging fashion and beauty scene.

At the Board of Trustees’ final meeting of the year, we recapped our financial picture via a presentation by our auditors from O’Connor Davies Munns and Dobbins. The news was all good. The auditors gave the Village an unqualified opinion which is the best rating one can get, affirming our full compliance with the State Comptroller’s Office regulations and our strong internal controls. The financial results were positive on both sides of the balance sheet as well. Revenues came in at $554,000 above projections. This was the result of very conservative budgeting and some unexpected windfalls that will unfortunately not be reoccurring in future years. Income rose in the Building Department due to an uptick in homeowner property improvements, something we could not predict but certainly a good omen for future budgets, as well as sizeable building fees generated from the Lawrence Hospital expansion project. Not knowing if or when the Hospital would put the project in motion, we quite properly left it out of our budget revenue forecasts. We have also made a concerted effort in our parking office to clean up any outstanding fines in our court and the extra time and effort reaped added financial rewards. We also received

GOVERNMENT

$98,000 on our FEMA claim for storm related services that was more generous than anticipated. Our expenses also decreased rather dramatically but again due to “one shot” events. In an effort to find cost savings on every budget line, we researched our employee and retiree health plans and made a switch in providers that resulted in a one time savings of $250,000. We also budgeted $161,000 for the projected exorbitant increase in hydrant maintenance fees by our water provider, United Water. Fortunately for the Village, the increase is still tied up in debate at the Public Service Commission level, resulting in a $61,000.00 savings to the Village. A laborer’s position was funded in the Public Works Department but we made the decision to work with just the staff at hand for the year and evaluate the results. We also budgeted very conservatively on our mortgage and sales tax revenue lines, given the dramatic downturn in both these line items in the past two years. Sales tax revenues exceeded budget by 3.5% or $28,000 and mortgage revenue was 23% above projections adding $33,000.00 to the plus side. We take heart that both these increases are positive indicators that the more global economy is improving and certainly the early Christmas shopping numbers are also bearing this out. All of the above funds will be deposited in our fund balance reserve fund. In past years, we had used the fund balance to keep the tax rate increases at 0%. As a result, the fund balance dropped to 12% of our budget, an amount which was at the lower end of the reserves required to

maintain our AAA bond rating, the highest a village of our size can attain. The AAA rating assures that we can borrow funds at the most advantageous interest rates to finance capital projects. Both the auditors and the Village Finance Committee thought it prudent to begin to increase reserves. This infusion of funds will bring our fund balance to 15.8% of our budget, which gives us the needed cushion to maintain our solid financial position. In addition to our AAA rating, the financial markets have been looking very favorably on the Village because of our advantageous debt and tax ratios. On the Village side of the budget, we tax at only 12.1% of our capacity. Our ability to tax or “capacity number” is determined by the State of New York, based on the market value of a municipality’s real estate. Not too far into the New Year, we will begin budget discussions in anticipation of a final budget being adopted in April. Unfortunately, we are anticipating pension and healthcare costs to continue to rise at unsustainable levels. Municipalities were the only entities not included in the repeal of the commuter tax so this unfunded mandate also continues. The Village will continue our practice of informed and conservative budgeting on both the revenue and expense sides and we welcome any taxpayer input on the subject. Mary C. Marvin is the mayor of the Village of Bronxville, New York. If you have a suggestion or comment, consider directing your perspective by email to: mayor@vobny.com.

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

Ending on a High Note, and an Opening By PETER SWIDERSKI As we exit 2011 this weekend, I’m reminded of one of my favorite “Seinfeld” episodes where Jerry tutors George Costanza to always leave when

he’s hit a high note, which is what the Village government is doing at the end of this year. We have good news to share both on the waterfront and our finances, as well as news about an opening on the Board of Trustees.

The Waterfront

A week ago, the Village received a draft copy of the long-awaited “PRAP” (Preliminary Remediation Action Plan), which is the New York State DEC’s description of how the waterfront’s offshore contamination will need to be remediated by the current owners, BP (British Petroleum). For those that don’t know (or remember), our waterfront is Continued on page 19

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THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

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MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

Ending on a High Note, and an Opening Continued from page 18 an extraordinarily contaminated industrial site that has some of the highest PCB contamination levels in New York as well as a more limited cocktail of other pollutants (mostly metals). This contamination, largely limited to the northern third of the site, is a legacy from when electrical insulation was once manufactured there (including in the remaining former factory still standing). We already have a PRAP for the remediation of the land portion of the site; we’ve been waiting (for years) for a PRAP for the off-shore portion so that BP could finally begin work on designing the clean-up and then actually remediating their portion (28 of the 42 acres). The proposed remediation involves a couple of major components, unlikely to change in the final version of the PRAP, which is expected to be issued in January. The first part is to actually build out the northwest corner of the waterfront (nearest to the tennis bubbles) by about an acre out into the river. This would cover the most contaminated riverbed and allow for wells to be lowered into the contaminated sub-riverbed soil to remove as much contaminant as possible while safely containing the rest. The second part of the effort is to dredge out from the edge of the

water’s edge (up to fifteen feet deep) where the contamination is above the permissible level of 1 in 1,000,000, and bring those levels down. Once we get the final PRAP, we’ll issue it for public comment and residents and interested parties will have ample time to review and submit comments. We will also hold a public hearing to provide residents a chance to speak in public on the PRAP. The DEC will take those comments and then issue its findings in the form of a Record of Decision (“ROD”) that will finalize what needs to happen on the site. BP will then go off and begin designing the actual cleanup and, after their design is approved, (finally!) begin work. That’s not likely to start until 2013, but every step forward is a step closer to a new future for the Village, one where the waterfront is used again productively and we all have access to it for recreation as well.

The Village Audit

We also received our first audit from our new auditors and it was all good news. First, the audit indicated that our finances were in good order and were as well-run as could be hoped given our size. (In auditor parlance, there were no negative “findings”of any significance.) Secondly, given where we appeared to be a year ago, our

financial condition has improved considerably. We have put to rest a number of outstanding negative balances on our books and have a real, positive fund balance in excess of $350,000, significantly improved over last year. Finally, our actual expenses for last year, even given the inevitable increases in insurance premiums and pension benefits, had actually declined year over year compared to 2010. This came as a result of cuts that involved shrinking the size of the village workforce and cost control at all levels. Hats off to Village Manager Fran Frobel and his assistant treasurer, Raf Zaratzian, for keeping us clean and headed in the right financial direction.

Open Trustee Seat

Trustee Quinlan will not be running again for his seat, which is up in March (Trustee Armacost, whose term is also up, currently plans to run again). While any sitting trustee (or mayor, for that matter) can always be challenged when their term expires, an open seat presents an open opportunity for anyone interested in running for the Board of Trustees. If you are interested in running as a Democrat, please reach out to Ellen Hendrickx at ehendrickx@aol.com or 478-9303: she heads the Hastings Democratic Committee. If you want to run as a Republican, please reach out to Tim Hayes (who correspondingly chairs the local Republican Committee) at timhays@

optonline.net. In either case, if you would like to be endorsed by the respective Committees, you should move quickly (e.g. in the next few days) because the caucuses where party candidates are chosen are at the end of January and endorsements are typically decided ahead of the caucuses. If you don’t care about a party endorsement, or if you wish to run as an independent, or just want to understand caucus and election mechanics, please reach out to Susan Maggiotto at 478-3400 ext 611. She’ll explain the pleasingly arcane but none-too-difficult steps if you wish to run. There will be ample time for all of us to thank Trustee Quinlan for his exemplary service, but he is not out of the woods yet and still has a few months to go. Finally, the Board extends the warmest wishes to all residents for the coming New Year. It’s going to be a lively one as a number of major issues are addressed (including, first and foremost, the aforementioned PRAP). We look forward to hearing from you, and working with you, to continue to move Hastings forward while keeping it the remarkable place it is. Peter Swiderski is mayor of the Village of Hastingson-Hudson. Direct comments or suggestions to mayor@hastingsgov.org.

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JudiciarySection

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

JUDICIARY

Former Social Worker Admits to Working Out – Instead of Working – on State Time Jeffrey Bieder Pays Nearly $9,000 in Restitution as Prosecution Seeks Jail Time ALBANY, NY -- State Inspector General Ellen Biben and Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson announce the felony guilty plea of a former State social worker who spent much of his work week at a local fitness club instead of caring for disabled individuals he was supposed to oversee. Jeffrey Bieder, a former Licensed Master Social Worker 1 with the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), pleaded guilty on December 21, 2011 to Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree before Tompkins County Court Judge John C. Rowley. As part of the plea agreement, Bieder paid nearly $9,000 in restitution to the State and prosecutors will recommend at sentencing that he serve 30 days in jail.

Inspector General Biben said, “This former employee not only stole from New Yorkers, he disregarded his critical responsibility to care for and protect some of the State’s most vulnerable citizens. My office will continue to aggressively pursue employees who perform with a blatant lack of integrity, and I thank District Attorney Wilkinson for her partnership in this case.” District Attorney Wilkinson said, “Mr. Bieder defrauded taxpayers out of thousands of dollars, while shirking his duties to disabled clients. We seek payment of restitution for New York taxpayers. We recommend jail time for this defendant for the despicable character of his crimes. Our ability to prosecute this matter aggressively is attributable to the strong case put together by Inspector General Biben’s office.” Bieder, 58, of Ithaca, who was assigned

to OPWDD’s Tompkins Regional Center in Ithaca, oversaw developmentally disabled individuals receiving OPWDD benefits while they were residing in private homes and nursing homes. His responsibilities included routine visits to the homes. He repeatedly failed to fulfill his responsibilities by regularly spending parts of the workday at a fitness center, the City Health Club in Ithaca, instead of doing his job. He also falsified records of an individual under his care, indicating she was “in good spirits, and has a positive attitude,” while in fact other records indicated her health was rapidly deteriorating and that she died the same day he reported visiting her. Fitness club records indicate he checked in at the gym 19 minutes after he said he left his Tompkins Regional Center office on his way to visiting the

individual under his care. Altogether, Bieder was at the fitness club 299 times during periods he reported to have been working in 2008 and 2009, stealing a total of $8,626.77 in salary from the State. Bieder paid $8,626.77 to the State at the time of his plea. After spending 29 years working for the State, Bieder retired September 2010 after his supervisor spotted him at the gym during work hours. His final annual salary was $65,192. Judge Rowley scheduled sentencing for February 2, 2012. Inspector General Biben and District Attorney Wilkinson thanked OPWDD and the New York State Police for their assistance in the case.

OpEdSection

Honest Redistricting is Key to Restoring Honest Government By FRANK V. VERNUCCIO, JR.

For far too long, New York has had the dubious distinction of having “the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation.” The reason for this is clear: competitive elections in New York State are virtually nonexistent. They have largely vanished due to practices such as using taxpayer funded newsletters as thinly veiled campaign literature; the use of member items to force voter loyalty; and, most importantly, the establishment of districts that virtually insure reelection bids. It is doubtful that incumbents whose reelection is guaranteed no matter how badly they behave will ever correct any of these corrupt practices. Add to these misdeeds the clearly illegal acts of numerous elected officials who have been caught stealing money, in one way or the other, from the public treasury, and the increasingly worrisome practice of voter fraud, and you have a clear picture of a legislature that is, by every measure, a disgrace. Despite their dismal performance, more incumbents leave office through death and indictment than through losing re-election. The facts are staggering: The re-election rate

since 2002 has been 96%. In one particular year, 2006, 100% of all incumbents that ran for reelection won. That would have been embarrassing even in the old Soviet Union. The situation is getting worse. As Citizens Union reports, “The number of uncontested state general election legislative races (in which there is no opponent or no major party challenger) increased from 1 percent in 1968 to 19 percent of all seats in 2010.” More State Senators and Assembly members leave office due to death and indictment than they do to losing campaigns. Last year, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch spearheaded a drive to demand nonpartisan redistricting. Before the 2010 election, almost every incumbent state senator and assembly member signed a written pledge to support that goal, a vow they completely ignored once the voters finished casting their ballots. Federal law mandates that district lines must be redrawn to comply with the census taken that year. A special report by Citizens Union was recently released, noting that: “The rigged system of redistricting is corrupting the spirit and reality of representative democracy in New York. It has become a form of collusion

between the two parties, drawing safe districts that protect incumbents and limit voter choice by effectively ending competitive elections. This in turn…[gives] disproportionate influence to special interests. An independent redistricting commission would empower people to choose their politicians, rather than vice versa. No election reform would do more to heal the harsh but artificial polarization of our politics while adding real accountability to Albany.” Having elected officials determine their own districts is absurd. A truly nonpartisan redistricting commission should exclude elected officials, their direct staffs or other appointees, their families, and their business associates. The same should hold true for party officials. It is clear that democracy in the Empire State is in a deep crisis, which can only be resolved by a truly representative legislature that is the product of genuinely fair elections. Frank V. Vernuccio is president of the Community Action Civic Association. Direct email to him at nycommunityaction@gmail. com. Visit the COMACTA website at comactainc.com.

The Westchester Guardian

ED KOCH COMMENTARY

The So-called Living Wage Law By EDWARD I. KOCH The following is my response to a New York Times editorial of December 26, which endorses City Council legislation now being considered. The legislation would provide for the so-called “Living Wage” law requiring developers who receive public subsidies of $1 million or more and those conducting business in the development to pay their workers wages substantially above the national minimum wage for the next ten years. The Negative Impact of an Imposed Living Wage The New York Times editorial of December 26, entitled “A Living Wage, Long Overdue” supports legislation pending before the City Council to require developers receiving public subsidies of $1 million or more to pay to the holders of full-time jobs a “living wage” defined as $10 per hour plus benefits or $11.50 per hour without benefits for at least ten years, which pay scale effectively for those developers seeking city subsidies to build becomes the city’s minimum wage, contrary to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour now mandated and binding in the U.S. Bizarrely, the Times editorial proposes an exception, stating, “The bill’s sponsors should also consider exempting grocery stores in areas that need fresh food markets.” Why not exempt all projects in areas of the city desperately in need of jobs? The unemployment rate for minorities in the country is double that of whites. In black and Hispanic communities, the unemployment rate is over 18 percent. Perhaps the Times writer is a vegan. In support of its position, the Times cites an expert in Los Angeles which adopted a “living wage” law, “that he was unaware of any project that was cancelled because of the wage requirement.” The Times editorial writer had only to look at the Times’ own news stories to learn that in the Bronx in 2007 when the City Council imposed such a requirement on a developer that would have developed the Kingsbridge Armory in The Bronx into a retail mall making available 575,000 square feet, providing private sector construction jobs

and permanent jobs in the businesses created, the developer withdrew its offer to go forward. That Kingsbridge Armory remains undeveloped to the present day. No jobs, no taxes, no upgrading of the neighborhood. I would support a national law creating a minimum wage of $10 plus benefits or $11.50 per hour without benefits, or any other reasonable increase for those at the minimum wage level. But I would do so only if it applied to all states, not simply to New York City. We live in perilous times. In Europe, the European Union is trying desperately to prevent five nations – Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) from going bankrupt. All of those nations apparently lived beyond their means, taking on national debt to provide services which they could not afford and creating private sector benefits raising the cost of doing business that helped bring these nations to their economic knees. If raising the minimum wage to $10 and $11.50 is such a good idea, why didn’t the progressive Democrats do it nationally when they had majorities in both Houses? Why didn’t the President at that time offer such a program? Does it make sense for New York City to risk its economic future and see developers turning to New Jersey, Connecticut and other states in the Northeast, rather than come to New York City to build, creating construction jobs and permanent jobs in the new businesses established? I hope the City Council is not emboldened to do what the labor unions are demanding of them – their role is to engage in collective bargaining—especially now that the New York Times editorial board has given the City Council cover. I truly fear for the future of this city as the pressures build on the candidates for Mayor and the City Council to support and enact such legislation, and the excesses of the days of “Fun City.” The Honorable Edward Irving Koch served as a member of member of Congress from New York State from 1969through 1977, and New York City as its 105th Mayor from 1978 to 1989.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please submit your Letter to the Editor electronically, that is by directing email to WHYTeditor@gmail.com Please confine your writing to between 350 and 500 words. Your name, address, and telephone contact is requested for verification purpose only. A Letter to the Editor will be accepted at the editor’s discretion when space permits. A maximum of one submission per month may be accepted.

THURSDAY, January 5, 2012

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sexual Abuse Whenever someone writes or speaks of sexual abuse in the “Church,” as did Salome Thompson in a December 22nd issue of The Westchester Guardian, in the article, “Sexual Assault an Overlooked Epidemic within the Church Community,” the one religious institution that will usually come to mind is the Catholic Church. We can all agree, there can be no excuse for the reprehensible acts of some in the clergy. The abuse of minors is a depravity, a heinous crime, and an affront to people of faith, society in general, and God. The offender, whether clergy or layperson, should be punished to the fullest extent of the laws of both the state and the Church. Although no particular religious denomination was mentioned in the article, I feel some significant facts are worth mentioning in this context, and will take this opportunity to inform and enlighten those who might harbor animus and misgivings about the Catholic Church, and its response to the abuse scandal / crisis. In its obligation toward the innocent victims and society, in 2002 at the height of the scandal, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned the John Jay College of criminal Justice to conduct a study on the nature and scope of this major problem. The study, released in 2004, determined that between 1950-2002, 81 percent of victims

were male, and of that number, 78 percent were post pubescent (teenagers). If in fact most abusers were not pedophiles, and victims were mostly adolescent males, then the results must mean that the victimizers were homosexuals. One failure of the report is the John Jay study was marred by its ideological reluctance to deal forthrightly with the role of homosexuality. Sexual abuse of minors or anyone for that matter, by clergy or layperson, is an atrocity. However, we expect members of the clergy to be above this criminal act, and are outraged when those who profess allegiance to a religious vocation, to live lives of prayer and virtue, are found less than perfect and falter in their mission. Again this is not meant to excuse in any way the harm that has been done, but what we should all understand is that the Church has been subjected to tremendous criticism, and in many cases it has been justisfied, in others, hatred and bigotry at the hands of charlatans have played an active role. The repercussions have been devastating. But keep this in mind, Charol Shakeshaft, a leading American scholar on the subject of sexual abuse, found that the rate of sexual abuse in public schools is 100 times greater than in the Catholic Church. The Church and bishops have accepted full responsibility for their omissions in defense of the innocent, and have made enormous strides in dealing with sexual abuse. The Church hopes to restore its spiritual influence in the minds and hearts of the faithful and in its mission of social justice, charity, and Gods many works. Bob Pascarella The Bronx, New York

The Man of Galilee Along with many of you, I have been closely watching the latest debacle in our nation’s capitol where men and women of not such good will continue to mouth platitudes, take positions hardened by hate, self-interest, and worse, self interest masked as doing work revealed to them by the Supreme Being. I pick up my most trusted local paper, The Westchester Guardian, and see the words of staff writers and correspondents who express traditional seasonal views of a child being born in a manger or undefiled oil blessedly on hand to light the holy candles for a few days more. We are given a typically excellent summary of the holiday season and traditions by the excellent Robert Scott. Yet, we will return to the doctrinaire, the ideology, the hubris or simply, the sheer social distortions of the 21st Century that has turned a once great nation into a mockery. The political leadership has surrendered, perhaps even sacrificed its duty to serve, to be the stewards of the electorate, to the inflamed ego, the lobbyist, the golden calf of PACS. Even the defenders of our civil rights have ruled that we shared a our status as people, ostensibly made in the image of our Creator, with the brick, mortar and legal wrangling of something called a “corporation.” God is truly mocked! And, so are the wishes and hopes of a Founding Fathers who envisioned quite a different nation. I have become a spiritual person driven away from formal religion by the sheer

excesses and lack of relevance of religions who continue to justify their conduct and that of their supporters by referencing their one, sole, and true status. People die this way, suffer this way, and it points the way for the worst sort of emulation on earth. We preach cultural superiority while the least among us struggle to maintain life and worse, follow the example to take from others what they lack themselves. My challenge to myself is to remember the words and wanderings of a seemingly simple carpenter in Galilee who spoke eloquently on how to live and to co-exist. Men and women of spiritual wisdom have appeared multiculturally to support this vision. Today, even those who speak His name often do so with other motives or needs; recognition, power, anger. If you love the Man and example, you will love other men, other examples. You will compromise, not deny a place at the table for those you disagree with, in short, “physician heal thyself.” It is time for all of us to heal ourselves and bring our families and local communities up to the standards of moral, social, and economic compacts taught by the Man from Galilee and others who have listened, heard and applied. They knew and know that God Will Not Be Mocked. Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah. Warren Gross New Rochelle, NY

NEW YORK CIVIC

Third Time Is Not Necessarily a Charm By HENRY J. STERN The imminent approach of the mid-point of Mayor Bloomberg’s third (and presumably last) term makes this an appropriate time to review his tenure and to scan the prospects of his successor who will be sworn in on January 1st, 2014 - unless something unexpectedly good or bad happens before that day. Tradition and experience have cast a cloud over mayoral third terms. Public officials inevitably accumulate enemies over their tenure.There is no necessary correlation between competence and popularity. The better the mayor, the more s/he will attempt to accomplish, and the greater the chance of failure. The more often a mayor rocks the boat, the more opportunities for the passengers and crew to jump ship. There is also historic inevitability in the

Beating the Third Term Blues as Others Measure the Carpet

rise and fall of politicians and dynasties. Parties and movements lose popularity over time as the public tires of them and boredom sets in. In 1992, after the success of the American war in Kuwait (Operation Desert Storm), now known as the first Gulf War, President Bush 41 was extremely popular. A year later he was defeated for re-election by a relatively unknown governor of a backwater state. One reason for this, not widely expressed at the time, was Bush fatigue. Although 41 had only served one term as president, he had been Ronald Reagan’s vice president for the previous eight years. So the total years of Reagan-Bush hegemony were 12. After Bush 43 emerged in 2000 as the candidate in opposition to Gore, who had been vice president for the eight Clinton years, he was “elected” and re-elected, over John Kerry, with the wars in

Iraq and Afghanistan spanning both his terms. Creating a Vacancy The mayoralty of New York City is determined on a quadrennial cycle. The mayoral election follows by one year the presidential election and precedes by one year the gubernatorial contest. The last time a federal and a non-judicial statewide election coincided was 1950, which was 61 years ago. One incumbent, Democratic Senator Robert F. Wagner Sr., author of The National Labor Relations Act and The Social Security Act (father of Mayor Wagner and grandfather of Deputy Mayor Wagner), had been seriously ill for several years, rarely participating in Senate business. He was first elected in 1926 and his fourth term was set to expire

in January 1951. Wagner was not expected to seek re-election. What he did, guided by other Democrats, was to resign in late June 1949, when the vacancy would be filled by a special election to be held on Election Day that year. To hold a state-wide election on the same day as the New York City mayoral election would bring out a larger number of city voters, predominantly Democrats, thereby helping the Democrats win other races.The strategy worked, with former Democratic Governor Herbert Lehman defeating John Foster Dulles, the Republican who Governor Thomas Dewey had appointed to fill out the rest of Wagner’s term, by a small plurality in the November general election.

Ten Years On

Mayor Bloomberg has continued to function in a competent and professional manner. He is not beloved by the public, partly because

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NEW YORK CIVIC

Third Time Is Not Necessarily a Charm Continued from page 22 of envy of his great personal wealth and influence, partly because of a handful of infelicitous remarks (usually quickly corrected), and to some extent because ordinary people do not believe the mayor has high regard for them and their concerns about municipal government. The Mayor has a national role to play as an honest, moderate reformer, and is well regarded by elites. This approval wanes, however, as the pollster climbs down the ladder. The mayor’s achievements - in public health, in environmental protection, in governmental integrity, in expanding parks and recreation programs while diminishing staff - deserve recognition. Commissioner Kelly is justly well regarded, and the absence of successful terrorist attacks cannot be attributed to a change of heart by al-Qaeda. The murder rate has declined sharply, although some offenses have begun to tilt upwards. The mayor’s wars on cigarette smoking and unlicensed guns deserve particular praise. He has turned his causes into national crusades, which have had varying degrees of success. He is not afraid to think of the larger picture, and the latest figures on extended life expectancy in New York City support his approach. I am not persuaded by some of the proposed

remedies, such as congestion pricing, which particularly disadvantage the middle class while having limited effect on the rich, to whom the fees would be a trifle. And the jury is still out on the rejected mid-Manhattan stadium, although the six dead blocks it would have created seem increasingly a high price to have paid for adding thousands of private vehicles to the midtown traffic mess. The interests of the Dolan and Johnson families should have been distinguished by the Council from the city planning and traffic questions involved. The problem with construction issues like the stadium is that you can’t really be sure of the merits until you build the facility, and by then you cannot undo what has been done. Mario Cuomo’s rejection of the Shoreham nuclear plant on Long Island is a conspicuous exception to that rule. As usual in politics, the occasional flaws in the record attract the most attention - the $700 million CityTime corruption scandal, the appointment of Cathie Black as schools chancellor, and the handling of the snowstorm the day after Christmas last year. But these must be judged as aberrational, compared with thousands of mayoral

appointments, promotions and contracting decisions made pursuant to law and on the merits. And when compared with the performance of the City Comptroller, the Mayor is a beacon of light and learning. We often appreciate public officials more after they have left office. We believe that Mayor Bloomberg’s reputation will grow over the years, as memories of his inappropriate term extension fade. Anyway, does anyone believe that New York City would have been better off with Anthony Weiner as Mayor? Sometimes Providence protects us from acts of folly, but we cannot always rely on chance to protect us from humiliation and chaos. The last observation we would make is that,

at this point, the lineup of candidates seeking to succeed to the mayoralty is undistinguished. And we haven’t heard the bad parts yet about what they have done or failed to do. Are these the best out of eight million? To paraphrase Robert Browning: Grow old along with me, The worst is yet to be.

Henry J. Stern is the founder and president of New York Civic. He writes as StarQuest. Direct email to: StarQuest@NYCivic.org. Peruse the http:// NewYorkCivic.org website for the entire archive of his work.

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nated as agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 12 Greenfield Ave., Bronxville, NY 10708. Purpose: all lawful activities. QUICK CASH OF WESTCHESTER AVE. LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 2/18/2009. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 2712 East Tremont Ave Bronx, NY 10461 Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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mail copy of process The LLC 152 Mildred Pkwy. New Rochelle, NY 10804. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation  USA 2 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 12/13/2011. Off. Loc.: Westchester Cnty. SSNY designated as agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 457 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605. Purpose: all lawful activities.

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