Westchester Guardian

PRESORTED STANDARD PERMIT #3036 WHITE PLAINS NY

Vol. VI I No. XXII

Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly

Thursday, May 23, 2013 $1.00

RICH MONETTI Boo Girls Online Page 5 SHERIF AWAD Success Through Comedy Page 6 RAYMOND IBRAHIM Pop America’s Eye Page 8 BOB PUTIGNANO Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival Page 10 JOHN F. McMULLEN Where’s The Balance Page 13 JOHN SIMON Two Out of Three Page 14 EDWARD C. SULLIVAN This Old House: Albany Page 16

Who Is the Drug Dealer?

By Dr. Evan Levine, Page 4

PEGGY GODFREY Economic Burden of Downtown New Rochelle Page 19

ence working with sponsors/donors; 2) Operations Manager- must have a good knowledge of computers/software/ticketing systems, duties include overseeing all box office, concessions, movie staffing, day of show lobby staffing such as Merchandise seller, bar sales. Must be familiar with POS system and willing to organize concessions. Full time plus hours. Call (203) 438-5795 and ask for Julie or Allison

THE WESTcHESTER GUARDiAn THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THE WESTcHESTER GUARDiAn

Page 2

UPON GOOD CAUSE, THE COURT MAY ORDERRetail AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE Prime - Westchester CountyWHETHER THE NON-RESPONSENT PARENT(s) SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A RESPONDENT; IF Best Location in Yorktown Heights THE COURT DETERMINES THE CHILD SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM HIS/HER HOME, THE 1100 Sq. Ft. Store $3100; 1266WHETHER Sq. Ft. store and 450 Sq. Ft. COURT MAY ORDER AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE THE $2800 NON-RESPONDENT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2012 CUSTODIANS FOR THE Page 3 Store $1200.

PARENT(s) SHOULD BE23, SUITABLE CHILD; IF THE CHILD IS PLACED AND THURSDAY, May 23,23, 2013 THURSDAY, MARCH 29,FIFTEEN 2012 Page 3 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2012 Suitable for any type of business.

Contact Wilca: 914.632.1230 REMAINS IN FOSTER CARE FOR OF THE MOST RECENT TWENTY-TWO MONTHS, THE AGENCY MAY BE REQUIRED TO FILE A PETITION FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS OF THE PARENT(s) AND COMMITMENT OF GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE CHILD FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION, EVEN IF THE PARENT(s) WERE NOT NAMED AS RESPONDENTS IN A non profit Performing Arts Center is seeking two job positions- 1) DirecTHE CHILD NEGLECT OR ABUSE PROCEEDING. tor of Development- FT-must have a background in development or expeA NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT HASfundraising, THE RIGHT TO REQUESTofTEMPORARY OR PERMANENT CUSrience knowledge what development entails and experiTODY OF THE CHILD ANDence TO SEEK ENFORCEMENT OF VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THE CHILD. working with sponsors/donors; 2) Operations Managermust have a Community Section..................................................................................................3 knowledge of computers/software/ticketing systems, duties include

BY ORDER OF THE FAMILYgood COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Memorial Day........................................................................................................3 overseeing all box office, concessions, movie staffing, day of show lobby Westchester On the Level isTOusually heard from Monday to Friday, from a.m. to 12 THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENT(S) WHO 10 RESIDE(S) OR IS FOUND AT [specify staffing such as Merchandise seller, bar sales. Must be familiar with POS Medicine. address(es)]:.................................................................................................................4 Noon on the Internet: http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterOntheLevel. system and willing to organize concessions. Full time plus hours. Call (203) Lastaknown addresses: TIFFANY RAY: 24ask Garfield Street, #3, Yonkers, Because of the importance Business...................................................................................................................5 of Federal court case purporting corruption briberyNY 10701 438-5795 and for Julie orand Allison Calendar..................................................................................................................6 allegations, programming with be suspended for the days of March 26 to 29, 2012.

Last known addresses: KENNETH THOMAS: 24 Garfield Street, #3, Yonkers, NY 10701 Westchester On the Level is heard from Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 12YonNoon

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Of Significance Of Significance

Community Section ...............................................................................4 Section ...............................................................................4 Community Business ................................................................................................4 Business ................................................................................................4 Calendar ...............................................................................................4 Calendar ...............................................................................................4 Charity ..................................................................................................5 Creative Disruption ............................................................................5 Charity ..................................................................................................5 Contest ..................................................................................................6 Cultural Perspective ...........................................................................7 Contest ..................................................................................................6 Creative Disruption ............................................................................6 Energy Issues .......................................................................................8 Creative Disruption ............................................................................6 Education .............................................................................................7 In Memoriam ....................................................................................10 Education .............................................................................................7 Fashion ..................................................................................................8 Medicine .............................................................................................10 Fashion ..................................................................................................8 Fitness....................................................................................................9 Najah’s Corner ...................................................................................11 Fitness....................................................................................................9 Health ..................................................................................................10 Movie Review ....................................................................................12 Health ..................................................................................................10 History ................................................................................................10 Music ...................................................................................................12 History ................................................................................................10 Ed Koch Movie Review ...................................................................12 Community ........................................................................................13 Ed Koch Movie Review ...................................................................12 Spoof ....................................................................................................13 Writers Collection.............................................................................14 Spoof ....................................................................................................13 Sports Scene .......................................................................................13 Books Sports Scene .......................................................................................13 Najah’s...................................................................................................16 Corner ...................................................................................13 People ..................................................................................................18 Najah’s Corner ...................................................................................13 Writers Collection.............................................................................14 Eye On...................................................................................................16 Theatre ..................................................................................18 Writers Collection.............................................................................14 Books Leaving on a Jet Plane ......................................................................19 Books ...................................................................................................16 Transportation...................................................................................17 Government Section Transportation ...................................................................................17 Government Section ............................................................................20 ............................................................................17 Campaign Trail ..................................................................................20 Government Section ............................................................................17 Albany Correspondent ....................................................................17 Economic Development....................................................................17 Albany Correspondent Mayor Marvin’s Column..................................................................20 .................................................................18 Education ...........................................................................................21 Mayor Marvin’s Column .................................................................18 Government .......................................................................................19 The Hezitorial ....................................................................................21 Government .......................................................................................19 OpEd Section .........................................................................................23 LegalSection ....................................................................................................23 OpEd .........................................................................................23 Ed Koch Commentary.....................................................................23 People ..................................................................................................24 Ed Koch Letters toCommentary.....................................................................23 the Editor ..........................................................................24 Strategyto...............................................................................................24 Letters Editor............................................................................25 ..........................................................................24 Weir Onlythe Human OpEd Section .........................................................................................25 Weir Only Human ............................................................................25 Legal Notices ..........................................................................................26 ..........................................................................................27 Legal Notices ..........................................................................................26

YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS AND COMMITMENT GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE PrimeOF Location, Yorktown Heights CHILD FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION, AND MAY FILE BEFORE THE END OF THE 15-MONTH 1,000 Sq. Ft.: $1800.

Contact Wilca: 914.632.1230 PERIOD.

HELP WANTED

Of Significance

Westchester On the Level with Narog and Aris Westchester On the Level with Narog and Aris Aris and

kersthe Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor James Sadewhite is ourofscheduled guest Friday, Westchester On the Level isCultural heard Monday to Friday, a.m. to 12 on Internet: http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterOntheLevel.

Joinbeen filed with this Court An Orderfrom toPerspectives............................................................................................6 Show Cause under Article 10from the10 Family Court ActNoon having March 30. seeking to to modify the placement for Please the above-named child.

Finances. ..................................................................................................................8 on the Internet: by http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterOntheLevel.

Join the conversation calling toll-free 1-877-674-2436. stay on topic.

It is howeverby anticipatedtoll-free that thetojury will conclude its Please deliberation ontopic. either Monthe conversation 1-877-674-2436. stay on YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before this Court at Yonkers Family Court Gardening...............................................................................................................8 Richard Narog March andcalling Hezi Aris your co-hosts.

Incase, thewe weekYork, beginning 20th and ending on day or Tuesday, 26 or 27.are Should be theYonkers, resume ourFebruary regular located at 53 So.that Broadway, Newwill on the 28th day of March, 2012 at 2;15 pm in the International. .fact .........................................................................................................8 Richard Narog andhave Hezi are entourage your InYonkers the week beginning andshould ending on February 24th,schedule we an Aris exciting ofanswer guests. afternoon ofthat saidco-hosts. day on to the petition and website. to show February cause why 20th said child not be programming and announce the Tribune Media.......................................................................................................................9 adjudicated to be a neglected child and why you should not be dealt with in accordance with the February 24th, we have an exciting entourage of guests.

Richard Narog and Hezi Aris are co-hostsFebruary of the show. Krystal Wade, a celebrated participant in http:// Every Monday is special.

On Monday, provisions of Article 10 of the20th, Family Court Act. Music. .....................................................................................................................10 Every Monday is special. On Monday, 20th, Krystal a celebrated participant in http:// www.TheWritersCollection.com is PLEASE ourFebruary guest.

Krystal Wade isWade, a mother of three who works fifty miles TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that you have the right to be represented by a lawSports.....................................................................................................................11 www.TheWritersCollection.com guest.

Krystal Wade is afornovel mother three who works fifty miles from home and writes in her time.”

“Wilde’ s Fire,” her to debut hasofyou been accepted for publication yer,“spare and if is theour Court finds you are unable pay a lawyer, have the right to have a lawyer Technology...........................................................................................................13 from home and writes ininher “spare time.”

“Wilde’iss her Fire,” her debut has sbeen accepted assigned by the Court. and should be available 2012.

Not far behind second novel,novel “Wilde’ Army.”

How for doespublication she do it? and available Not far behind her second novel, s Army.” it?

Eye on Theatre. .....................................................................................................14 Tuneshould in andbefind out. in 2012.

PLEASE TAKEisFURTHER NOTICE, that“Wilde’ if you fail to appearHow at thedoes time she and do place noted above, the Court will hear and determine the petition as provided by law.

Tune in and find out.

People. . ...................................................................................................................15 Co-hosts Richard Narog and Hezi Aris will relish the dissection of all things politics on Tuesday, February Dated: January 30, ORDER OF THE COURT Volunteers.............................................................................................................16 Co-hosts Richard and Hezi ArisChuck will2012 relish the dissection of his all things politicsfrom on Tuesday, February 21st. Yonkers CityNarog Council President Lesnick willBY share perspective the august inner 2 column CLERK1 column THE COURT 21st.

Yonkers President Chuck Lesnick will shareOF22nd. his perspective from theEsq., august Government Section...............................................................................................16 sanctum of theCity CityCouncil Council Chambers on Wednesday, February Stephen Cerrato, will inner share sanctum of the CityonCouncil Chambers on Wednesday, February24th 22nd.

Esq.,bewill share New York Civic....................................................................................................16 his political insight Thursday, February 23rd.

Friday, February hasStephen yet to beCerrato, filled. It may a propihis political Thursday, February 23rd. Friday, February 24th has yet to be filled.

It mayofbeThat a propiMayor Marvin......................................................................................................18 tious day toinsight sum uponwhat transpired throughout the week.

A sort of BlogTalk Radio version Was tious day to sum up what transpired throughout the week.

A sort of BlogTalk Radio version of That Was The Week That Was (TWTWTW).

Economic Development....................................................................................18 The Week That Was (TWTWTW). from Mayor..........................................................................................20 For those who cannot joinMessage us live, consider listening to the show by way of an MP3 download, or on For thoseWithin who cannot joinCurrent us consider listening the the show by wayinof MP3 that download, orlink on Commentary........................................................................................20 demand.

15 minutes of live, a show’ s ending, you cantofind segment ouranarchive you may demand.

Within 15 minutes of a show’ s ending, you can find the segment in our archive that you may link to using the hyperlink provided in the opening paragraph. WHYTeditor@gmail.com Campaign Trail....................................................................................................21 to using the hyperlink provided in the opening paragraph.

OpEd Section. ...........................................................................................................22 The entire archive is available and maintained for your perusal. The way to find a particular interview Legaleasiest Notices, Advertise Today The is available and maintained forfor your easiest to findofa the particular interview Legal Notices, Today The Hezitorial. ......................................................................................................22 is toentire searcharchive Google, or any other searchAdvertise engine, theperusal. subjectThe matter or way the name interviewee.

For isexample, to search Google, or any other search engine, for the subject matter or the name of the interviewee. search Google,Help Yahoo, AOL Search for Westchester On the Level, Blog Talk Radio, or use For the Wanted.............................................................................................................22 example, Yahoo,Ads. AOL Search for Westchester On the Level, Blog Talk Radio, or use the hyperlinksearch above.Google,Legal ...................................................................................................................22 Before speaking to the police... call hyperlink above.

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The Westchester Guardian is a weekly newspaper devoted to the unbiased reporting of events FREE CONSULTATION: The Westchester Guardian is a weekly newspaper devoted to the living unbiased reporting of events and developments that are newsworthy and significant to readers in, and/or employed in, Criminal, Medicaid,toMedicare and developments that are newsworthy and significant readers living in, and/or employed in, Westchester County. The Guardian willFraud, striveWhite-Collar to report fairly, and objectively, reliable informaCrime & Westchester County.tion Thewithout Guardian willHealth strive to report fairly, andduty objectively, reliable informa914.948.0044 favor or compromise.

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Our first duty will be to the PEOPLE’S F. 914.686.4873 RIGHT TO KNOW, by the exposure of truth, without fear or hesitation, RIGHT KNOW, by themay exposure ofthe truth, without fearoforFREEDOM hesitation, no matterTO where the pursuit lead, in finest tradition no matter where the pursuit may lead, in the finest tradition of FREEDOM 175 M AIN S T., S UITE 711-7 • W HITE P LAINS, NY 10601 OF THE PRESS. OF THE PRESS. The Guardian will cover news and events relevant to residents and The Guardian will cover news and eventsAs relevant to residents and businesses all over Westchester County. a weekly, rather than businesses all over Westchester County.

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And, furthermore, we will acknowledge that we cannot all things to all readers. We must carefully balance the presentationbe of all things to all readers. We must carefully balance the presentation of relevant, hard-hitting, Westchester news and commentary, with features relevant, hard-hitting, Westchester news and commentary, with features and columns useful in daily living and employment in, and around, the and columns useful in daily living and employment in, and around, the county. We must stay trim and flexible if we are to succeed. county. We must stay trim and flexible if we are to succeed.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

CommunitySection MEMORIAL DAY

What Have They Done to Memorial Day?

By ROBERT SCOTT This year Memorial Day will be celebrated on Monday, May 27.

With its roots deep in the Civil War, for more than a century this solemn holiday was traditionally observed on May 30 Ever since 1971, however, in a concession to expediency and a rebuke to tradition, Congress shifted Memorial Day to the last Monday in May. Thanks to the Uniform Holidays Act, the holiday can now fall on any of the eight days between May 24 and May 31.

On this coming Monday, May 27 at Arlington National Cemetery, President Obama will attend ceremonies to remember and honor the dead.

Marking Memorial Day at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Virginia, on the evening of Saturday, May 25, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will light candles (called “luminaria”) placed at each of the more than 15,300 graves of mostly unidentified Civil War soldiers. Similarly, the 3,553 graves at the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery will be illuminated.

Its origins virtually forgotten, for many Americans Memorial Day is no longer a day of remembrance. Instead, it’s just another three-day weekend holiday--an occasion for barbecues, picnics and shopping mall sales.

Regrettably, the number of communities that celebrate the holiday in the old-fashioned way with colorful parades grows smaller each year, especially among cities and larger communities.

Manhattan’s time-honored parade up Fifth Avenue and the Bronx parade on the Grand Concourse are no more, although the Brooklyn and Little Neck-Douglaston communities still host sizable parades on Long Island.

In Westchester, the parade tradition is also still strong. Parades were held last year in Ardsley, Bedford Hills, Bronxville, Dobbs Ferry, Eastchester, Elmsford, Harrison, Irvington, Mount Kisco, New Castle, New Rochelle, Pelham, Pleasantville, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, White Plains, and the Crestwood and Ferncliff Manor sections of Yonkers.

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Lest We Forget

Some 620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War, 60 percent of them on the Union side and 40 percent on the Confederate side, making it the bloodiest event in U.S. history, and exceeding by more than 50 percent the military deaths in World War II. Until the Korean War, the death toll of the Civil War nearly equaled the total number killed in all previous U.S. wars. If the same percentage of Americans had died in the Vietnam War as died in the Civil War, four million names would be on the somber black wall of Vietnam Memorial in Washington.

By the Civil War’s end, hardly an American family had not been touched by its appalling death toll. About 6 percent of white males of military age in the North and about 18 percent of their southern counterparts died in the war. Virulent infectious diseases--typhoid fever, dysentery and pneumonia-

Westchester On the Level with Narog and Aris

Continued on page 4

Westchester On the Level is heard from Monday toFriday, from 10 a.m. to 12 Noon on the Internet: http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterontheLevel.

Join the conversation by calling 1-347-205-9201.

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

MEMORIAL DAY

What Have They Done to Memorial Day?

Continued from page 3

-killed more than twice the number of battle deaths.

Death on such a grand scale cried out for meaning and emotional justification. Well before the Civil War ended, women on both sides had begun rituals of remembrance with processions to local cemeteries to decorate the graves of Civil War veterans. Thus was born the national holiday of Decoration Day that would later be called Memorial Day. In 1866, veterans who had served in the Union Army formed an organization called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The following year, Gen. John A. “Black Jack” Logan was elected its national commander.

With a membership approaching a half-million, for many years to come the GAR would be a major national political force. Its final encampment was held on August 31, 1949, with six of the 19 living Union Army veterans in attendance. The GAR disbanded in 1956, after the death of Albert Woolson, the last surviving veteran, at age 107.

On May 5, 1868, General Logan proclaimed Decoration Day as a holiday and set the first official observance for May 30, closing his General Order No. 11 to the GAR “with the hope that

it will be kept up from year to year.”

Celebrated for the first time on May 30 of 1868, the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a specific battle.

Some two dozen communities have since claimed to be the birthplace of the holiday. Evidence also supports the claim that Southern women were decorating graves of their war dead even before the end of hostilities.

How the Holiday Began

On April 25, 1866, in Columbus, Mississippi, a group of women visited a cemetery to place flowers on the grave of Confederate soldiers killed at the battle of Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers. Concerned over the bare gravesites, the women also placed flowers on their graves.

Additional claimants include Macon and Columbus in Georgia, and Carbondale, Illinois, where a stone in the cemetery claims that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of General Logan.

In 1966, after much research, the Erie Canal village of Waterloo, N.Y., was proclaimed the birthplace of Decoration Day. Supporters of its claim assert that earlier observances at other locations were either informal,

not community-wide or were one-time events.

On May 26, 1966, just in time for that year’s celebration, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a presidential proclamation recognizing Waterloo as the birthplace of the holiday.

In the summer of 1865, Henry C. Welles, a Waterloo druggist, suggested that the Civil War dead in local cemeteries should be remembered by placing flowers on their graves. Nothing came of this until the following spring, when he brought his idea to Seneca County clerk and former Civil War general John B. Murray.

Waterloo’s flags were lowered to half-staff, and draped with evergreen sprays and black mourning ribbons on May 5, 1866. Local civic societies and residents marched to the village’s three cemeteries, where ceremonies were held and the graves were decorated. In 1868, Waterloo joined other communities in holding their Decoration Day observance on May 30, as the GAR’s General Logan had urged.

Despite New York’s claim, the tiny central-Pennsylvania hamlet of Boalsburg insists the custom of honoring Civil War dead began there in 1864, while the Civil War still raged. On a pleasant October Sunday that year, a teenage girl named Emma Hunter brought flowers to the Zion Lutheran Church cemetery to place on the grave of her father, a sur-

geon in the Union Army.

Nearby, Elizabeth Meyer was placing flowers on the grave of her son, Pvt. Amos Meyer, who had died on the final day of battle at Gettysburg. Emma put a few of her flowers on Amos’s grave.

In turn, Mrs. Meyer placed some of her flowers on Dr. Hunter’s grave.

United by loss, the two women agreed to meet the next year on the Fourth of July to repeat the ceremony and also to place flowers on undecorated graves. On that date, they were joined by other residents. Dr. George Hall, a local clergyman, offered a prayer, and every grave in the cemetery was decorated with flags and flowers. The custom became an annual event, soon copied by neighboring communities.

In the beginning, the South refused to recognize the May 30 federal holiday, and honored Confederate dead on other dates, including the birthdays of Gen. Robert E. Lee, January 29, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, June 3. Michigan made Decoration Day an official state holiday in 1871.

By 1890, every other northern state had done the same.

The Holiday Today

Memorial Day, the alternative name of the holiday, was first used in 1882, but did not displace Decoration Day until after World War II. It became the official name of the holiday in 1967.

The following year, Congress made wholesale changes in four holidays to take effect at the federal level in 1971. In addition to shifting Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday in May, Washington’s Birthday was moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February (and celebrated as Presidents Day), and Columbus Day was changed from October 12 to the second Monday in October.

Formerly called Armistice Day, Veterans Day was also shifted from November 11 (the date hostilities of World War I ended in 1918) to the fourth Monday of October. Congress moved this holiday back to November 11 in 1978 because too many other nations continued to celebrate the original date.

The late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (DHawaii), a Medal of Honor recipient who lost an arm fighting in Italy during World War II, introduced a bill in the Senate in 1999 to restore the Memorial Day holiday to its original date, May 30. His bill and subsequent bills introduced by him at each session of Congress until his death in 2012 were allowed to die in committee.

Sadly, Memorial Day in America is now a shadow of its former self.

Robert Scott is a semi-retired book publisher and local historian. He lives in Crotonon-Hudson, N.Y.

WHAT YOUR DOCTOR WON’T (OR CAN’T) TELL YOU

Who Is the Drug Dealer?

EVAN S. LEVINE, M.D.

A marijuana dealer is arrested for selling a pound of the drug to someone who gladly paid his fee. If that transaction was In New York State, and he was caught and convicted, he could face incarceration of up to 15 years and a fine of $15,000.

A professor of medicine is paid $2,000 to hawk an expensive drug at a dinner and has an unwritten, but well known, quid pro quo arrangement with a specific pharmaceutical company to prescribe their drug as part of this well understood agreement. Some of these paid speakers will prescribe a drug that will ultimately cost the patient, or taxpayers, as much as a few thousand dollars for each year, for each patient prescribed, when compared to its generic equivalent. A top doctor might therefore prescribe 1,000 patients a drug that could have been prescribed a

generic that cost pennies. Do the math and you’ll realize that his lecture “scam” just cost the healthcare system more than a million dollars! Who is the drug dealer here? Who will penalize the sick and the elderly more?

Unlike the marijuana dealer, the doctor’s patients did not seek out the drug prescribed to them. They didn’t request it, and most, if they realized there were alternative drugs, would not be happy to pay for it. And yet, it is the marijuana dealer that goes to jail and the doctor who is hailed as a compassionate caregiver.

In 2012 a cardiologist practicing in New York was arrested for allegedly selling prescription drugs in exchange for his permission to “bill their insurance providers for unnecessary tests.”

Shortly after his arrest I saw two of his patients in my office, both with congestive heart failure (CHF), who were treated by this doctor before his arrest.

Both of them were prescribed a drug

called Bystolic as part of their therapy.

Bystolic is a drug that belongs to the beta-blocker class and is a brand named drug, marketed in the US by Forest Laboratories, Inc. It has never received FDA approval for the treatment of congestive heart failure.

The two beta-blocker drugs commonly used to treat CHF, and approved for that use, Carvedilol and Metoprolol Succinate, are available as generic drugs and cost a fraction of what Bystolic sells for. Both patients told me it was a great expense for them, paying an additional $60 each month, compared to if they were given the appropriate beta blocker like Carvedilol. With the click of my pen they received the better drug and saved almost $700 for a year’s supply.

This doctor might have been arrested for selling prescription Oxycodone, to a willing participant, but will receive no penalty for defrauding patients who got the wrong drug for their heart failure; a drug that not only cost his patients money but may have cost some of his patients’ lives. Bystolic has not been established to help pa-

tients, with CHF, and so patients with that disease who were prescribed that drug not only paid more money for it but also may have paid the ultimate price – death. While I have no proof of whether this doctor received any form of remuneration from Forest Labs, I can’t help be suspicious the doctor did.

This year I saw a patient whose cardiologist, a man well known in the cardiology community and a full professor of medicine at a top university, had retired. For the past ten years he was treated for his hypertension with a drug named Tarka that was marketed here by Sanofi-Aventis. This drug, he told me, cost him $90 in co-pay every three months (it would cost around $150 dollars every month for someone without insurance) or $3,600 in total over the past ten years. It’s one of the most expensive medications marketed for hypertension. Since almost every good drug, used for hypertension, has a generic equivalent and costs as little as $4 a month without insurance (sometimes even less for those with a prescription drug plan) I’ve never pre-

scribed it. This patient would later tell me that he paid $5 dollars for a three month supply of the generic medication I prescribed. His blood pressure remains well controlled on an inexpensive, but just as good, generic medication.

Many of you likely read, a few week ago, that the US government sued Norvartis AG for what they believe were kickbacks to speakers and attendees of Novartis functions as a means to push doctors to prescribe their expensive drugs.

“The payments and lavish dinners given to the doctors were, in reality, kickbacks to the speakers and attendees to induce them to write prescriptions for Novartis drugs,” the government said in a release. But what about the physicians? What about some of the top doctors, the elite physicians who are professors of medicine and in charge of teaching medical students and residents, who are just as guilty as Novartis, for manipulating patients into accepting costly prescription drugs? How can

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

WHAT YOUR DOCTOR WON’T (OR CAN’T) TELL YOU

Who Is the Drug Dealer?

Continued from page 4

many of these physicians not be held responsible for their duplicitous behavior, for their decisions based on their own monetary gain at their patient’s expense?

Dr. Evan S. Levine is a cardiologist in New York and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and affiliated with St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers. He is also the author of the book “What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t) Tell You”. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and children.

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Lexington Capital Associates

Multifamily

BUSINESS

Boo Girls to Make the Most of Online Purchasing by Younger Generation

is our Specialty

By RICH MONETTI Going out of business signs continue to be posted across the American landscape signifying that the economy has taken down yet another small shop. Katonah has not been immune to the financial crisis, and one such posting seems to indicate that another long time staple has succumbed. “Boo Girls Closing Here,” encompasses the windowpane facing Katonah Avenue, but “here” is the operative word – given that everywhere will soon become the virtual storefront of the new www.boogirlShop.

Some of Boo Girls’ inventory of “Young Contemporary” in the storefront that will close mid-June.

BooGirls Partners (L-R): Sydney Schwab and Gaynor Scott.

Proprietress Gaynor Scott will be taking the dress selling experience digital. “I’m not going out of business, I’m taking advantage of a new opportunity,” she Ms Scott said.

Ms Scott refers to the sea change in the shopping experience. No longer will shopping require or desire a lift from mom to get a look at the latest fashion. “They are all shopping online,” says Ms Scott of how the younger generation goes about their business.

Of course, that will leave the “olders” a bit out in the cold – losing the manner they had become accustomed; shopping in person for themselves as juniors or their coming of age daughters. “How am I going to touch things, feel things and try things

on,” Ms Scott explains is their lament.

But that take away isn’t only confined to the sensibilities and concerns of the older generation.

In turn, Ms Scott hopes she has found a 21st Century fix that helps make up for the fall of her four walls in mid-June and the three dimensional interaction that will go with it. “I’ve spoken to a web designer who is developing a program that’s interactive so you can talk to customers online, see them, and visually suggest clothing becoming the individuality of the online shopper,” Ms Scott said.

Standing before the computer screen, in the office space to be, Ms Scott is confident current “brick and mortar” customer service standards that have been evolving over two decades under her watch will translate well into the virtual shopping culture and experience. “It’s just a new way of doing commerce,” noted Ms Scott.

That said, Ms Scott concedes it will be a little more isolating as traffic measured in cookies won’t be as compelling as the sound of the glass door swinging open on a Saturday. On the other hand, she jokes, “There won’t be as much folding.”

Nonetheless, Ms Scott won’t be alone in this journey of transition. “Working the storefront with me for the last ten years and taking the semester off before beginning grad school, Ms Scott says of Boo Girls Store Manager Sydney Schwab, “I asked her if she wanted to partner with me, and do this, so I have somebody who’s young and Internet savvy.”

Even so, will the transition from the brick and

Continued on page 6

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

BUSINESS

Boo Girls to Make the Most of Online Purchasing by Younger Generation Continued from page 5 mortar world translate to the modernity of the virtual environment, and fully capture the information our clients need? Or will we earn annoying delete clicks to our already overburdened carpel tunnel condition? “I intend to market it very specifically to my customers,”

emphasized Ms Scott.

With a large and loyal client base, Ms Scott believes Boo Girls will venture online to buy the products that have long pleased their fashion tastes.

“I don’t have high rent in the virtual environment, but I have a lot more advertising so this might actually be

more expensive to operate” Even so, the prices points will remain static. It will be around $50 for tops, $70-$80 for jeans and $100 for dresses, Ms Scott advised.

But that’s not necessarily a function of the expense. “There’s a standard market for the industry and you want

it to be a comparable price. You don’t want to be seen as a discounter,” she says.

At issue is whether risk of failure exists, despite preparation and experience. Ms Scott is quick to note, “Not a phrase I ever use. When I opened the store 20 years ago my friends said to me, ‘you’re crazy.’ It will never make it and I’ve been through a lot for the last

20 years so I don’t intend to not succeed.”

Launching in June, she’s eager to double down on the double negative.

Look for Boo Girls partners Sydney Schwab and Gaynor Scott at their new home at www.boogirlShop.com

support them and keep them in business for another 10 years by joining them for two days of in-store events, special promotions, refreshments, and giveaways. There will be Live Jazz Saturday, June 1st on Main Street for a fun fashion celebration. Congratulations to you all…

Over in Katonah… Caramoor’s annual Summer Festival is set for June 22nd with music and arts for everyone.

More Katonah news, the Katonah Museum of Art has a new exhibit running through June 16th, “Beyond the Bed: The American Quilt Evolution,” tracing the dynamic evolution of the North American quilt, whoever knew quilting could be so exciting…

The Bedford Hills Historical Museum will present “Bedford Hills at War: Commitment and Sacrifice, World War I and II” on Friday, June 14th (Flag Day). The opening reception is 6-8pm. All are welcome. They

are honoring those from Bedford Hills who served and will show what was going on at the home front during that time, and no I was not around then…

The “point” to this item, is a well done to Greta Candreva of Katonah as she won two gold medals at the North America Cup fencing tournament.

Join The Field Library in Peekskill for their new Teen Book Group, this month they will be reading “The Skin I’m In” by Sharon G. Flake. Copies are available to check out at the Circulation Desk, the group is for middle & high school age and be sure to come hungry for snacks & bring your friends.

Congratulations and good luck to all the area college graduates, including my daughter, Colgate grad Kate, enjoy returning home and we’re sure you’ll all find great jobs, just keep at it.

Rich Monetti has been a freelance writer since 2003 and lives in Westchester.

CALENDAR

News & Notes from Northern Westchester

By MARK JEFFERS Warning, warning, sounds like the robot in the old “Lost in Space” TV series; after their 17-year nap, cicadas are turning up in our county this summer, their noise may interrupt my porch napping, which is where I do most of my research for each week’s edition of “News & Notes.”

Good luck to Kurt Heitman and the Red House group as they have taken over the operation of The Paramount Theater in Peekskill and are planning to reopen on May 26th with a performance by the John Whelan Band.

Congratulations and three cheers to our friends at the First Presbyterian Church of Katonah, as they raised over

$35,000 at their annual rummage sale, I think my wife spent three days there…

The Repertory Theatre Company will present their production of “Godspell” on Friday, May 31st at the Pound Ridge Community Church.

Westchester County Park Passes are now available; the pass provides admission to all county-owned parks, pools and beaches, for more information call 914-864-7275.

As Barney from CBS’s hit sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” would say, this music festival is “wait for it, legend…ary,” as Clearwater’s 2013 Great Hudson River Revival returns June 15 and 16 at Croton Point Park.

Memorial Day is right around the corner, so get ready to salute and support our veterans, the annual Bedford Hills Memorial Day Parade is set to

kick off at 9am on May 27th, we’ll be there waving our American flags…

Speaking of our veterans, how about donating clothing, shoes, bedding curtains, toys and household items to Veterans of Westchester, call 914637-8397 to schedule a pickup, your donation will benefit local veterans right here in Westchester County.

It’s time for the annual Ossining School District Art Show, including student’s artwork from grades K-12 in the gallery at the Ossining Public Library through May 30th.

Any chance I can find to encourage everyone to shop locally, I will take, and here is a great one. Three Mount Kisco boutiques have a great reason to celebrate. Yogi’s Paw, Tiger Lily and New York Dolls, all on Main Street have been in business for 10 years. Let’s

Mark Jeffers resides in Bedford Hills, New York, with his wife Sarah, and three daughters, Kate, Amanda, and Claire.

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

Success through Comedy

By SHERIF AWAD Writer, director, and actor; most prominently, standup comedian, Shaher “Ronnie” Khalil has toured the world and The Middle East with his comic routines. No matter the venue, he is featured in comedy shows and festivals that are often sold out. Khalil has also earned notice and notoriety among American television shows in which he has appeared in comic sketches on “Conan O’Brien”, ABC News and CNN, as well as in Comedy Central’s online show “The Watch List”. He recently ventured into filmmaking and directed two films, the horror comedy, :You Can’t Kill Stephen King” and “The Meter Men”.

The latter premiered at the Canes Film Festival held at Miami University where it earned Best Film and Best Score awards. It also became one of five films

Ronnie Khalil. (out of 114) that were chosen to be soon screened in Los Angeles. In addition to stand-up, Khalil used to lecture in colleges throughout the United States mostly with regard to speeches on success and motivation.

Both of Ronnie Khalil’s parents were university professors. His father Tarek Khalil received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the US and has his

Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University earned in 1969.

The family then moved to Miami, Florida, where Ronnie was born and raised.

Dr. Khalil recently returned to Egypt to become the President and Provost of Nile University in Egypt. I met Ronnie Khalil to discuss his colorful comic career and its relationship to his Egyptian roots.

AWAD: Why did you choose Ronnie to become your professional name?

KHALIL: I remember when I was a young kid everybody was either calling me bad names or more simply Ronnie.

That’s why the name stuck to me; since I was seven. Also when I was young, I wanted to be more American with that nickname until I eventually discovered my Egyptian roots during college years.

My parents also tried to get me more acquainted with Egypt during our annual summer visits by even enrolling me into Arabic classes. I can speak Arabic now as I was interviewed many times in Arabicspeaking media during my tours.

Family photo from Ya ibnal-Wazir.

AWAD: How did you get interested in stand-up comedy and eventually art?

KHALIL: Well my role models were the old school of the 1970s and

the 1980s. Bill Cosby, Robin Williams and Chevy Chase to whom I was often compared. I remember that I was that kid who used to realize school projects

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 7

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

Success through Comedy

Continued from page 6

in a theatrical way using giant sketches or presentations. I also remember doing my first standup act when I was at the seventh grade although I stole the material from another source. I did not know any better (laugh). I was also writing stories, novellas, comic acts and cartoons at a young age. When I got into college, I kind of got away from it a little bit when I pursued a business degree. And this was after I was about to have major role in film. I was convinced at that time that cinema was not a way to make a living.

After graduation, I worked in advertising for a couple of years until I started performing standup comedy acts. Once I started doing that, it took over my life.

One thing led to the other and I decided to quit my job, to move to New York, and become a fulltime standup comedian. New York’s rough, yet diverse daily lifestyles develop one’s edginess as it brought out my voice; it was unique.

AWAD: So what kind of jokes you often tell onstage?

KHALIL: I write my own stuff; occasionally I speak about politics.

When I started out, I talked about myself growing up in Miami and having Egyptian parents. For the audience, everything was run of the mill until I started to speak about things related to Egypt. Things became more difficult after 9/11; my parents were worried about me talking about it. However, bit by bit, many changes occurred across American media with more information mentioned about Egypt and The Middle East. So right now, my job as a standup comedian is not to educate the audience about Egyptians or to tell them we are not the bad guys. The show I did in Egypt’s Saqiet El-Sawy (Cultural Wheel Space) right after the January 25th Revolution was so politi-

cal because it was being told at the right moment. Unfortunately, I was about to fly back to Egypt but my last five shows and an invitation to appear on CBC’s al-bernameg with Bassem Youssef were all cancelled, probably due to some economic difficulties.

AWAD: What do you think of Egypt in the aftermath of January 25?

KHALIL: Many people feel disappointment about the outcome of the revolution because it has been somewhat regressive. All of us dreamt of fair treatment and equal rights whether it is a liberal system or a more conservative regime. But I think some are still afraid to speak out in fear of prosecution.

AWAD: Speaking of this, what do you think about Bassem Youssef’s satiric show and about him being apprehended and out on bail although he is frequently referred to as “the Jon Stewart of Egypt� and was honored in Time magazine’s “Time 100� list of the world’s most influential people, KHALIL: I like what he’s doing although I sometimes miss the punchlines because of my not knowing all the dialects or because of my not knowing the background behind some of the issues mentioned in the jokes. About his arrest, I wasn’t surprised, but more skeptical. It is contrary to what the new regime in Egypt wants us to believe. I commented about Youssef’s situation in a recent article I wrote for the CNN website. In that article, I wrote: “It is a similar situation to what had happened to Adel Imam last year who was sentenced to jail for insulting Islam. Not for something he said but for roles he played in films. That’s like sentencing Edward Norton to life in prison for his role in American History X�. Accusation of insulting the religion of Islam in Bassem Youssef’s show can fall under any topic.

Ronnie Khalil directs Clayton Farris in Meter Man.

Ronnie Khalil’s stage performance.

spondent meter man whose life takes an unexpected turn when he meets an enigmatic girl who never pays the meter.

AWAD: How did The Meter Man come to life?

KHALIL: The producer, Nick Katzenbach, optioned a script by writer Luke Fronefield. They approached me after seeing a trailer for my horror comedy film, and figured I had the right comedic sensibilities for that film.

Luke and I sat down and discussed all the nuances that he really wanted. As it was, the script was too long for a short film. So we slowly whittled it down until we were ready to shoot. It was a small crew and a grueling schedule but thankfully it all worked out in the end. As for why The Meter Man, I think in America, The Meter Man is vilified and universally hated, so we really wanted to show their point-of-view, and how they had dreams and feelings as well. It’s a profession that isn’t usually featured in films - especially as the lead - and the story really just touched everyone who read it.

SA:What can we next expect from Ronnie Khalil?

KHALIL: I am right now working on a new script with my producerpartner who is of Lebanese extraction.

We used to work together on the Middle-Eastern Comedy Festival in Los

Angeles. The script is a kiddy adventure story that we plan to shoot in Egypt. I also have a new Arabic-language sitcom show called “Ya Ibn al-Wazir (Oh Son of the Minister)� whose pilot will be streaming soon this month. If it scores some success with the audience, it might be picked up by an American network and become a series. I wrote the show with Meena Dimian who is also of Egyptian descent. The pilot is directed

by Amin Matlaqa, the LA-based Jordanian filmmaker. I play the son of an exEgyptian minister who had to flee from Egypt after the fall of Mubarak regime who sends for his half brother to come and live with him in LA. You can check it out on “www.wazirshow.com�.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a film / video critic and curator. He is the AWAD: It is known that you used film editor of Egypt Today Magazine to tour also to lecture about business. (www.EgyptToday.com), and the artisKHALIL: After I got my Master’s tic director for both the Alexandria Film degree in business, I started to do standFestival, in Egypt, and the Arab Rotterup comedy. I was trying to find a way to dam Festival, in The Netherlands. He also combine the two practices by lecturing contributes to Variety, in the United States, children on the principles of business and is the film critic of Variety Arabia through humor in what I called the Hu(http://varietyarabia.com/), in the United morous Business Lecture.

Arab Emirates (UAE), the Al-Masry AWAD: How did you start your Al-Youm Website (http://www.almasrycareer in filmmaking? alyoum.com/en/node/198132) and The KHALIL: I started with a comic Westchester Guardian (www.Westchesterhorror film called You Can’t Kill Stephen Guardian.com).

King, which I wrote over a rainy weekend with a friend of mine. We ended INDEPENDENT LIVING FOR OLDER ADULTS up getting money to fund it and I eventually finished it last year. The film follows the American ‘slasher formula’ by having a group of teens who visit a lake where horror author Stephen King lives, but evenJoin us at our O U R A M E N I T I E S I N C L U D E : tually they start getOPEN HOUSE t 4QBDJPVT TUVEJP BOE POF CFESPPN ting killed off one at BQBSUNFOUT TUBSUJOH BU a time. Of course it and experience it t 4QFDUBDVMBS WJFXT was an important for yourself. t -VODI BOE %JOOFS TFSWFE CVÄŠ FU TUZMF JO PVS starter because I did not know how EJOJOH SPPN SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH, much work was t #BTJD $BCMF 57 BOE BMM VUJMJUJFT JODMVEFE 11:00 AMďšş3:00 PM needed to make a t IPVS 4FDVSJUZ feature horror film.

515 Audubon Avenue at 191st, t &EVDBUJPO BOE BSU QSPHSBNT FYFSDJTF DMBTTFT Luckily, its rights NY, NY 10040 TPDJBM FWFOUT BOE NVDI NVDI NPSF were sold to eight t 0O TJUF WJTJUPS QBSLJOH different countries, If you cannot attend our Open House including Turkey, or would like additional information on We’ve thought of everything to enrich and where it plays right scheduling a private tour, please call enhance your life. now. Getting more 212-342-9539 experience, I am working on sevfb.com/IsabellaOrg eral projects. I also finished one short twitter.com/IsabellaOrg narrative called The Meter Man. It stars youtube.com/IsabellaOrg Clayton Farris as www.isabella.org a lonely and de-

ISABELLA HOUSE

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

MELINDA’S GARDEN

INTERNATIONAL

Radical Cleric Swears to ‘Pop America’s Eye’ if Moderate Morsi Threatened

Garden Revival

By MELINDA MYERS Spring floods, summer droughts and temperature extremes take their toll on gardens and the gardeners who tend them. Help your gardens recover from the crazy temperature and moisture extremes that seem to occur each year.

Start by assessing the current condition of your landscape. Remove dead plants as soon as possible. They can harbor insect and disease organisms that can infest your healthy plantings.

Consider replacing struggling plants with healthy plants better suited to the space, growing conditions and landscape design. You often achieve better results in less time by starting over rather than trying to nurse a sick plant back to health.

As always, select plants suited to the growing environment and that includes normal rainfall. Every season is different, but selecting plants suited to the average conditions will minimize the care needed and increase your odds for success. Roses, coneflowers, sedums and zinnias are just a few drought tolerant plants. Elderberry, ligularia, Siberian iris and marsh marigold are a few moisture tolerant plants.

Be prepared for worse case scenario. Install an irrigation system, such as the Snip-n-drip soaker system, in the garden. It allows you to apply water directly to the soil alongside plants. This

By RAYMOND IBRAHIM

Snip ‘n Drip soaker system. means less water wasted to evaporation, wind and overhead watering. You’ll also reduce the risk of disease by keeping water off the plant leaves.

A properly installed and managed irrigation system will help save water. The convenience makes it easy to water thoroughly, encouraging deep roots, and only when needed. Turn the system on early in the day while you tend to other gardening and household chores. You’ll waste less water to evaporation and save time since the system does the watering for you.

Capture rainwater and use it to water container and in-ground gardens.

Rain barrels and cisterns have long been used for this purpose and are experiencing renewed interest. Look for these features when buying or making

FINANCES

Find Your Lost Money at Yonkers Riverfront Library YONKERS, NY—New York State has $12 billion in unclaimed funds, and some of this money may belong to you. Meet with a representative of the New York Office of the State Comptroller, who will search for an account in your name. If she finds one, she will print a form for you to fill out. All this takes about five minutes.

She will be in the Yonkers Riverfront Library on Wednesday, June 5, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. No appointment is necessary.

Riverfront Library is located at One Larkin Center, Yonkers, NY

10701. The library is handicapped accessible. Parking is available at the nearby Buena Vista Parking Garage.

Limited metered street parking is also available in the area.

your own rain barrel. Make sure the spigot is located close to the bottom so less water collects and stagnates. Select one that has a screen over the opening to keep out debris. And look for an overflow that directs the water into another barrel or away from the house.

Add a bit of paint to turn your rain barrel into a piece of art. Or tuck it behind some containers, shrubs or a decorative trellis. Just make sure it is easy to access.

Be sure to mulch trees and shrubs with shredded bark or woodchips to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and reduce competition from nearby grass.

You’ll eliminate hand trimming while protecting trunks and stems from damaging weed whips and mowers.

Invigorate weather worn perennials with compost and an auger bit.

Spread an inch of compost over the soil surface. Then use an auger bit, often used for planting bulbs, and drill the compost into the soil in open areas throughout the garden. You’ll help move the compost to the root zone of the plants and aerate the soil with this one activity.

A little advance planning and preparation can reduce your workload and increase your gardening enjoyment.

Photo of Melinda Myers by and courtesy of Mark Avery.

Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening. She hosts the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV and radio segments and is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine.

Myers web site is www.melindamyers. com

American Middle East analysts often claim that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate organization, nothing like the more radical Salafis. If true, what do we make of the fact that the most intolerant, anti-American, hatefilled Salafis and jihadis also happen to be the greatest and staunchest supporters of Morsi? Doesn’t such unequivocal support indicate shared ideologies and goals?

Consider: A few weeks ago, while discussing the ongoing protests against Egypt’s President Muhammad Morsi—himself a leader of the Brotherhood—Sheikh Abdullah Badr, an Al Azhar trained scholar and professor of Islamic exegesis, made the following assertion on live TV: I swear to Allah, the day those who went out [to protest], and at their head, the [Coptic] Christians—I say this at the top of my voice—the day they think to come near Dr. Morsi, I—we—will pop their eyes out, and the eyes of all those who support them, even America; and America will burn, and all its inhabitants. Be assured, the day Dr. Morsi is touched by any hand whichever, and connected to whomever, by Allah it will be the last day for us. We will neither leave them, nor show them any mercy.

Badr’s “radicalism” is well documented. On various occasions he has openly declared on live TV that he hates and is disgusted by Christians, that he will “cut the tongue” of anyone who offends Islam (adding “Let the whole world burn, but Islam not be mocked”), and that those Egyptians protesting against Morsi are “mischief makers” who should be “hung on trees” (a distinct allusion to Islamic crucifixion as prescribed in Koran 5:33). Interestingly, he was recently arrested again, but not for the aforementioned hatemongering and incitements to kill those against Morsi, but rather for insulting an Egyptian actress on live TV, calling her, among other things, a “whore.”

At any rate, under Hosni Mubarak, Badr and other intolerant Islamic supremacists were imprisoned. Under Muhammad Morsi, Badr—as well as numerous jihadis who were on deathrow for their acts of terror—have been freed.

This alone speaks volumes concerning the behind-the-scenes relationship between the Brotherhood and jihadis.

Then there is radical cleric Wagdi Ghoneim, who was sentenced to five years under Mubarak and banished from Egypt for his anti-infidel hatemongering—again, only reportedly to return under Morsi. He too is as radical as they come. For example, after cursing the late Coptic pope to hell and damnation during his funeral, he openly threatened Egypt’s Christian minority with genocide. Among other “pledges of loyalty” to Morsi, he has incited Muslims to wage jihad on and even kill anyone protesting against the Muslim Brotherhood president, portraying such Muslims as apostates who want to see Islam wiped out of Egypt.

Salafi sheikhs Badr and Ghoneim are in good company. Months back, any number of radical clerics went out of their way to show their support for Morsi—including by issuing fatwas calling for the deaths of any and all Egyptians who protest against his rule.

Thus Islam’s most radical Salafis and jihadis see themselves as defenders of the Muslim Brotherhood, even as Western analysts and policy makers insist there is a deep divide between the “moderate” Brotherhood on the one hand, and the “radical” Salafis on the other.

Yet the question remains: If Morsi and the Brotherhood are “moderates”— or, as U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper once described them, “largely secular”—why do the most vile “radicals” fully support them?

Could it be that the dividing line between them—a line which hopeful or naïve Western policymakers are heavily banking on—is not so stark after all, is not so black and white?

In fact, radical Salafi support for “moderate” Morsi is simply a reflection of the fact that the radicals, the Salafis and jihadis—as opposed to many Western leaders and analysts—understand and fully support the Muslim Brotherhood president’s agenda: the establishment of full Sharia law in Egypt.

And, once empowered, Sharia has no black and whites—this they all know.

Raymond Ibrahim’s Investigative Project on Terrorism was first published on May 7, 2013. http://www.meforum. org/3506/sheikh-abdullah-badr Raymond Ibrahim is author of the just published book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians. He is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 9

CURRENT COMMENTARY

The Media’s Double Standard on Privacy

By LARRY M. ELKIN Privacy is an increasingly precious commodity in our era, and violating it often triggers outrage.

But who is outraged depends upon who is being violated, and by whom.

A couple of recent news items illustrate the contrast. In the first, the Justice Department recently informed The Associated Press (AP) that it had covertly seized records of outgoing calls on more than 20 telephone lines used

by The AP and its reporters. According to The AP’s coverage of the story, the Justice Department would not say why it sought the records, though the prevailing theory is that the seizure was linked to a May 2012 story about a CIA operation in Yemen that foiled a terrorist plot, which included leaked information about the CIA’s activities.

Gary Pruitt, the news agency’s president and CEO, wrote a strongly worded letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday. “There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters,” the wire service chief said. Other news organizations, as well as The Newspaper Association of America, expressed shock and concern over the incident. In a news conference on Tuesday, Holder defended the Justice Department’s action, though he said he had recused himself and was not personally involved.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg recently admitted that some of its journalists had habitually accessed information on their terminals about subscribers’ contact information and terminal use.

The Bloomberg staff could not see trades, portfolios, or clients’ messages to one another, but they could use the information they obtained to advance stories. For example, noticing an employee had not logged on for some time might prompt a reporter to seek information on that employee’s status with the company.

Bloomberg apologized, and CEO Matthew Winkler wrote that “the error is inexcusable” in an op-ed published on Monday. Yet many of Bloomberg’s clients – who pay, on average, about $20,000 per year for use of this database – remain angry that their information was available to reporters feeding stories back to the mother ship.

Bloomberg said it has deactivated the

system that allowed reporters access to this data, but rebuilding client trust will be a long process.

Though the stories above are unconnected, they mirror one another.

The outraged journalists in the first are the ones causing outrage in the second.

Reporters at The AP and elsewhere are incensed that the Justice Department went fishing in the news agency’s phone records without notifying the organization or exhausting other avenues first. (Holder maintained that the Justice Department was thorough and that the subpoenas were properly limited in time and scope.) Federal officials have regularly extended such niceties to journalists since Watergate. The New York Times noted that Justice Department regulations call for “notice and negotiation” under normal circumstances, though a serious leak in the intelligence community could surely be said to fall outside that heading.

The Justice Department extends consideration to journalists as a courtesy, but those who bring us the news ought to remember that they are not specially protected individuals under the law. They have the same rights and responsibilities as anyone else.

Assuming the Justice Department’s subpoena to The AP’s phone providers was valid, the real questions on the table are whether the government treats too much information as secret and whether investigators can turn too easily to subpoenas without going through a judge, who could protect the public’s privacy and due process rights.

Those questions are both fair.

But they aren’t the questions The AP and its fellow news organizations are raising. Instead, the organizations focus on their own feelings of violation in this particular case, and the potential for the government to identify confidential sources through the seized records.

Journalists and their sources ought to know by now that if they leave a trail for investigators to follow, investigators will follow it if the stakes are high enough. Terrorist activity is one instance where the stakes that high.

Unlike the reporters who concern themselves, at their most noble, only with keeping the public informed, the government has multiple public interests to consider: keeping everyone safe, protecting intelligence sources and methods, respecting privacy, and dis-

closing information the public ought to know.

Nowadays, we all understand that our physical and digital movements are easily observed by those with sufficient interest. If journalists want clandestine meetings with sources, they should do it the way Woodward and Bernstein did with Deep Throat: Meet at night, face to face, in a dark garage.

Journalists risk coming across as crybabies or hypocrites when they demand the government give them space to pry into its secrets without repercus-

sion while they themselves gleefully trample on the privacy expectations of others, as Bloomberg’s reporters did – and as did Eric Lipton of The New York Times, about whom I recently wrote in this space.

Like it or not, the government has a public interest to protect, particularly when it comes to thwarting terrorist attacks. Anyone who thought the Feds wouldn’t be interested in where The AP got its information about the CIA’s Yemen exploit was naive in the extreme.

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, has provided personal financial and tax counseling to a sophisticated client base since 1986. After six years with Arthur Andersen, where he was a senior manager for personal financial planning and family wealth planning, he founded his own firm in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., in 1992. That firm grew steadily and became the Palisades Hudson organization, which moved to Scarsdale, N.Y., in 2002. The firm expanded to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2005 and to Atlanta in 2008.

Page 10

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

MUSIC

THE SOUNDS Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival – April 12, 2013 OFBLUE First Night of Two at Madison Square Garden, NYC

By Bob Putignano This is Clapton’s fourth edition of his Crossroads Fest that differs from his first three because this is the first performed indoors and the first that offered two nights. This benefit is for Eric’s Crossroads Center a drug treatment facility in Antigua that Clapton founded.

The main man started the proceedings with a pretty laidback half hour acoustic set the started as trio with Willie Weeks on bass and Steve Jordan drumming, first up was “Driftin.’

Throughout the set the band expanded as Doyle Bramhall, Andy Fairweather Low, Chris Stainton, and Vince Gill joined the fray. The highlight for me was the mostly upbeat “Lay Down Sally.” The set quietly concluded with a sleepy “Wonderful Tonight.”

The remaining two members of Booker T. & the MG’s (Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper) opened with “Time is Tight,” and “Hip Hug Her” followed. Additional attendees included (a kind of reunited Blues Brothers) with Matt “Guitar” Murphy; Albert Lee also sat in but didn’t solo. I particularly enjoyed a riveting “Born Under a Bad Sign” with Keb’ Mo’ on solid vocals who also traded fiery leads with Cropper who was also very much on his game. Their segment closed with a pretty hot “Green Onions,” that had the crowd on its feet. This was a very solid, satisfying and entertaining set.

Robert Cray’s current band was next and they were in an upbeat mood.

I’ve been tough on Cray over recent years, but he brought his “A” game to MSG, and was later joined by the King of the Blues B.B. King who performed a righteous “Let the Good Times Roll,” followed by “Every Day I Have the Blues” with Clapton, and Jimmie Vaughan joining in.

On a smaller side stage Sonny Landreth did one solo tune (no band.)

Then Doyle Bramhall II (not my cup of tea) had Citizen Cope and Gary Clark Jr. join in.

First time Crossroads invitee the jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel was solid especially when he dueled with Alan Holdsworth. Holdsworth exited and Clapton joined Rosenwinkel’s band with “If I Should Lose You,” and “Way Down That Lonesome Road,” where Clapton displayed some of his best chops of the night, and allowed ample time to let Rosenwinkel chime in. Clapton looked happiest during this segment which was different (even thought they mostly played blues) than any other set of the evening.

John Mayer impressed especially during a lengthy “Queen of California” where Mayer exhibited one of the strongest and headiest guitar solos of the night. Mayer was intense and spacey and bordered on Jerry Garcia territories with his superb explorations.

Mayer’s set ended with Keith Urban covering the Beatles “Don’t Let Me Down” from their “Let It Be” album.

The crowd (and yours truly) got a kick out of this excellent closer that had the crowd roaring.

Buddy Guy was next and he had the young fourteen year old guitarist Quinn Sullivan and Robert Randolph in his band. Buddy looks marvelous and performed well letting Sullivan solo regularly as well as Randolph.

Needless to say Guy went for his usual audience participation during “Someone Else is Slippin’ In.” The crowd dug it, but I’d seen too much of these antics from Buddy for too many years.

Oddly (on the small side stage) Dan Aykroyd and Keb’ Mo’ did a one song tribute to Muddy Waters cover-

ing “Got My Mojo Working” with Aykroyd on vocals, fortunately it was a short segment.

Last up was the Allman Brothers Band who opened with the two songs from their debut self titled 1969 album with the instrumental “Don’t Want You No More” that segued into “It’s Not My Cross to Bear.” Taj Mahal, Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo entered for “Statesboro Blues” and followed with (also from the Brothers first LP) “Black Hearted Woman.” Clapton made his final appearance of the eve joining the Brothers on a pretty nice “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad” from the Layla sessions. The Brothers wrapped up the evening with a somewhat lengthy “Whipping Post” (the last tune on their debut album) where it was great to hear Derek Trucks dazzle into the near stratosphere trading leads with the also crafty Warren Haynes. Note: I miss Derek’s explorations with the current Tedeschi Trucks band, and really enjoyed hearing his less-traditional playing which is filled with far more creativity.

This nearly five hour show had minimal downtime. The main stage rotated and had the next artist’s instruments and gear ready to go. The smaller side stages also helped to keep the music nonstop all night as well, which made for an extraordinary listening experience. One complaint; over the last four Crossroads, Clapton uses too many familiar faces, and it would be nice to see him give opportunities to other guitarists who deserve wider attention. Though I have to give him kudos for inviting Kurt Rosenwinkel and one or two others artists, but wouldn’t it be nice to have guitarists like George Benson, Larry Carlton, Pat Martino, Ronnie Earl, Robben Ford (and add

your own favorites) substituted into EC’s festival lineup? I guess it’s like politics with their existing cronies. No hard complaints, but I’m just saying…

Oh, a big thank you to my childhood buddy Bob Ruvolo for not only inviting me to this outstanding show, but for also seating me into the first row. Wow!

WFDU - http://wfdu.fm. 24x7 On Demand Radio: http://wfdu.streamrewind. com/show/profile/11 , WFDU’s Sounds of Blue is the most pledged to program for 5 consecutive years. Senior Contributing Editor to: http://www.Bluesrevue.com , http://WestchesterGuardian.com, and http://YonkersTribune.com.

Bob Putignano www.SoundsofBlue.com.

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It all kicks off Sunday, June 16th with KC & the Sunshine Band, the disco kings who have been bringing people to their feet for four decades

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Sunday summer nights will bring incredible mega-talent to Westchester County beginning June 16, 2013 for fourteen weeks ending September 15,

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 11

MUSIC

Summer Concert Series Announced by Empire City Casino harness and thoroughbred venues; nightly live entertainment including the best party and Latin bands,dueling pianos, comedy, karaoke & more. A plethora of dining options will satisfy event the most discerning palate: enjoy

authentic Italian cuisine at Nonno’s Trattoria; dine trackside with live betting at Empire Terrace Restaurant; convenient delicious options at the International Food Court or Grab ‘n Go. As part of a new $50 million expansion,

Dan Rooney’shigh-energy sports bar boasts creations by Michelin-starred Chef Christopher Lee; and coming soon, in collaboration with Ducasse Studios, Pinch will not only whet the appetite but also feature 100 New York craft beers with an in-house Master

Cicerone; a craft cocktail lounge will round out the entertainment options with retro bowling lanes.

Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway is located at 810 Yonkers Avenue (at Central Avenue) in Yonkers, New York, Westchester County (I-87 to Exit 2), open

seven days a week from 9:00am to 4:00am.

Connect with Empire City Casino on facebook.com/empirecity, follow them on twitter.com/EmpireCity_C, visit www. empirecitycasino.com or call 914.968.4200 for more information.

2013 Summer Concert Series Schedule Date

Performer

Tickets on Sale

TRAVIS TRITT

May 16th

June 16

KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND

June 30

AMERICA

May 16th

BLUES TRAVELER

May 23rd

KANSAS

May 23rd

June 23 July 7

July 14 July 21 July 28

August 4

August 11 August 18 August 25

September 1 September 8

September 15

CHRIS ISAAK

THREE DOG NIGHT LEANN RIMES

ROCK AND BLUES FEST KENNY ROGERS

TBA (Hint: Your Favorite 80’s Band)

May 16th

May 23rd

May 23rd June 3rd

May 16th June 3rd

July 29th

GAVIN DEGRAW

June 3rd

SMOKEY ROBINSON

June 3rd

KENNY LOGGINS

June 3rd

SPORTS

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Orvis Rolls Out the Wildly Successful Fly Fishing 101 and 201 Clinics for Spring 2013

new entrants to the sport of fly fishing.

This season Orvis hopes to introduce even more outdoor lovers to the sport with Fly Fishing 101 and 201 beginning in April 2013. A list of locations and dates for the 2013 classes can be found at www.orvis.com/flyfishing101, and each class is complimentary to the public.

“The previous success of Fly Continued on page 12

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Steakhouse with Northern Italian Cuisine Extensive Wine List Desserts Homemade Daily

Anyone can learn to fly fish for free this Spring with Orvis SUNDERLAND, VT – From April through June, Orvis will offer free fly fishing lessons nationwide through Orvis retail stores and participating dealers (www.orvis.com/flyfishing101). Now in its fourth year, Orvis has introduced more than 25,000 new people to the joys of fly fishing with these free clinics since 2010. Never before has there been such an organized effort at so many locations across the U.S. to bring

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Page 12

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

SPORTS Orvis Rolls Out the Wildly Successful Fly Fishing 101 and 201 Clinics for Spring 2013 Continued from page 11

Fishing 101 is truly amazing and encouraging,” explains Tom Rosenbauer, Marketing Director of The Orvis Company. “Based on the success of the program, Orvis is delighted to again welcome brand new, novice and advancing students to the joys of fly fishing through Fly Fishing 101, 201 and now 301. Our goal is to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to come learn more about the serenity and challenge of fly fishing. The classes are unique opportunities to enjoy a new sport. The success of the program speaks volumes in regard to what folks are seeking in terms of quality recreational activities for themselves and their families.”

The Orvis Company and Trout Unlimited have again joined forces in 2013 for the Fly Fishing class series.

Additionally, the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) will offer additional instructor volunteers for this year’s exciting and informational events.

Fly Fishing 101/201 Highlights

– 101 classes concentrate on the two skills that intimidate most newcomers to the sport—knots and casting. The 101 course will consist of two parts – one hour of casting instruction and one hour of rigging. Most participants are true beginners so keeping the focus on learning these basic skills is the best place to start.

FF 201 classes are done on the water, with a lower instructor/student ratio and the goal is for students to catch fish close to home. 201 class itineraries will vary by location. However, the main thrust of the 201 course is getting those interested in taking the next step in fly fishing on the water at a local location where they have a great chance at catching their first fish. Private water, local bass/bluegill ponds, a recently stocked river or creek are used.

This year FF 301 classes will be offered for those who have already attended a Fly Fishing 101 or 201 class (or have some casting experience).

These classes are held on the water and involve more fishing time and more one-to-one instruction under actual fishing conditions. A minimal charge may apply for some of these courses.

Here’s What Participants Are Saying…

“I want to first say thank you for the class. My son and I enjoyed it immensely and I appreciate the time you took with him. At nine years old he is attempting to learn a skill that tests his coordination and determination.

You demonstrated great patience and encouragement with him. He has practiced casting every day since we came

to the class, and proudly shows off the alumni pin. He proceeded to tell his grandfather word for word everything you and Zack taught him. I don’t know if he’ll stick with it or not, but I beam with pride watching him practicing. I was not a new Orvis customer, but the overall treatment and customer service we received will ensure I remain one. I look forward to being able to share this with him for years to come. I just can’t say thank you enough.”

“A few years ago I took a parks and rec class in fly fishing and I learned enough that I went out a bought a rod and reel, but never used it. Now thanks to your store, I have used my gear and I expect that I will be an Orvis customer well into the future!”

Special Offers

Once instruction is completed, each group attendee will receive a $25 coupon off any purchase of $50 or more good toward Orvis gear on that day only. Additionally, each group attendee will receive a certificate for a FREE Trout Unlimited membership and a FREE membership to the Federation of Fly Fishers—a $70 value.

The total free package value including the instruction is valued at over $100.

Founded in 1856, Orvis pioneered

the mail order industry in the United States, operates more than 80 retail stores in the U.S. and the U.K. including its Flagship store in Manchester, VT; and maintains a network of over 400 dealers worldwide. Orvis donates five percent of

pre-tax profits each year to protecting nature. You can read more about Orvis on their website at www.orvis.com.

Visit www.orvis.com/flyfishing101 for a full listing of participating stores/dealers.

Event Dates (dates and times vary by store): Fly Fishing 101

Saturday, April 20 Sunday, April 21 Saturday, April 27 Sunday, April 28

Fly Fishing 201

Saturday, May 4 Sunday, May 5 Saturday, May 18 Sunday, May 19 Saturday, May 25 Sunday, May 26 Saturday, May 11 Sunday, May 12

Saturday, June 8 Sunday, June 9

Saturday, June 1 Sunday, June 2 Saturday, June 15 Sunday, June 16

Local Orvis Stores/Dealers Orvis Company Store, Darien 432 Boston Post Road Darien, CT 06820

Orvis Company Store, Greenvale 50 Glen Cove Road Greenvale, NY 11548

Orvis Company Store, Palisades Palisades Center 1300 Palisades Center Drive West Nyack, NY 10994

Orvis Company Store, New York 522 5th Avenue New York, NY 10036

Orvis Company Store, Yonkers 100 Market Street Yonkers, NY 10701

Efinger Sporting Goods Company 513 West Union Avenue Bound Brook, NJ 08805

Ramsey Outdoor 240 Route 17 North Paramus, NJ 07652

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 13

TECHNOLOGY: CREATIVE DISRUPTION

Where’s The Balance?

By JOHN F. MCMULLEN Most of us – at least those reading this column – recognize the many benefits that the thirty-five year technology boom has brought us. We have more computing power in our smartphone than large business computers had then – the same smartphones take pictures, bring us music, provide directions and GPS capability and …. oh, yeah, make phone calls. We have immediate access to people and information all over the world. Technology in the fields of medicine, education, science, entertainment, and communications have brought us to levels that seemed like science fiction thirty-five years ago.

There have, of course, been negatives and, once again, the technoinformed readers of this column understand that the developments in this area have caused great disruption, particularly in the area of employment.

The problem isn’t that we haven’t known about this – we have. In 1994, Stanley Aronowitz and William DiFazio, (professors at the City University of New York and St. John’s University, respectively), in their book, “The Jobless Future: Sci-Tech and the Dogma of Work,” warned of the mass unemployment that the creative disruption of technology would bring.

Since then, economists and pundits, such as former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (in his book, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future” and on-going columns) have continued to beat the drum for understanding of the dire consequences of this disruption and the need for long range planning to deal with it – but little has happened and the present gridlock in Washington shows little capability of dealing with immediate problems, never mind long term ones. Kevin Drum, writing about robots in a recent Mother Jones article, “Welcome, Robot Overlords. Please Don’t Fire Us?” (http://www.motherjones.com/ media/2013/05/robots-artificialintelligence-jobs-automation), agrees that there will be initially great unemployment but optimistically feels that society will restructure and, that by 2040, all will be well.

Recently, virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier, author of “You Are Not A Gadget” and the recent “Who Owns The Future,” has added a negative from another aspect. He feels that the Internet explosion has fed the recession

and is destroying the middle class.

He describes previous mass technology disruptions, such as the movement from horses to cars, as both eliminating jobs (blacksmiths, stable rentals, etc.) and creating new ones (factory workers, auto mechanics, gas station owners and attendants). He feels that the creation end of this equation has not been met in the present disruption. The public spends massive amounts of time online with our usage being recorded by Facebook, Google, and many other large firms.

These firms create models of our activity and both use it to structure their own marketing efforts and sell it to other firms that aggregate the data, refine it and re-sell it. Lanier points out that we, the providers of the data, make nothing from it while the collectors and aggregators make a good deal. He suggests a return to the vision of “hypertext” pioneer Ted Nelson, who foresaw a global marketplace where all participants are both “buyers” and “sellers” with the sellers receiving compensation not only for their products but also for any personal information which they choose to release.

All of the perceived negatives mentioned so far are “macro” ones affecting societal issues – unemployment, decline of the middle class, etc. There are additionally those who feel that our absorption with the Internet is bad for us as individuals, causing us to lose the ability to focus on complex issues, absorb long articles or concentrate on books.

When online, it is natural to “multitask” – to be reading e-mail while we wait for a Facebook response or for an Excel worksheet to save. Education writer Annie Murphy Paul, author of “The Brilliant Report,” in the May 5th issue entitled “Why learning and multitasking don’t mix” (http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=bc04df008d 4705e4e77c2eb35&id=b2fda19450 &e=c1f48ebcc6) details a study at the California State University–Dominguez Hills and published in the May issue of Computers in Human Behavior.

Students were observed when supposedly concentrating on studying or testtaking and were found to be unable to not be distracted by their devices or connections. In a 15 minute test period, “it wasn’t long before their attention drifted: Students’ “on-task behavior” started declining around the two-minute mark as they began responding to arriving texts or checking their Facebook feeds. By the time the 15 minutes were up, they had spent only about 65 percent of the observa-

tion period actually doing their schoolwork. 2013 TED talk, “The surprising need ness” which brings analysis and creative We were amazed at how frequently they for strangeness”(http://www.ted.com/ thinking. multitasked, even though they knew some- talks/maria_bezaitis_the_surprisSo, if we have all these things to one was watching. It really seems that they ing_need_for_strangeness.html), worry about – addiction, shallowness, could not go for 15 minutes without en- voiced concern about the willingness loneliness, conformity, etc. – how do we gaging their devices. It was kind of scary, to conform that seems prevalent online Continued on page 14 actually.”

– she wants us to embrace “strangeThe article goes on to detail other studies which have much the same outcome and show that the mutli-tasking student generally grades lower than the one who focuses ONLY on the material at hand.

Paul is not alone in warning about a negative impact that immersion in the cyberworld may have on individuals. Two highly readable books, “HamCupcakes let’s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy For Seasonal Pies Building A Good Life In The Digital Age”

by William Powers (Harper Collins, Specialty Cakes 2010) and Nicholas Carr’s “The ShalSpecial Orders lows” What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains” (Norton, 2011), explore these is914.278.9252 sues in depth.

Open: While differing in writing style, Mon. & Wed. 10A-5P. Closed Tues. they both see individuals swamped Thurs., Fri. & Sat.: 10AM- 6PM with information, generally unable to Sun. 11-3 differentiate between reliable an unreliable sources with limited attention span www.humblepiespecialtycakes.com because of the sheer magnitude of the information and generally, to use Carr’s 7 B Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY term, “shallower” than the generations before us. Think of that – we have Commercial • Industrial more informa& Residential Services tion at hand than ever before Roll-Off Containers 1-30 Yards and most seem Home Clean-up Containers unable to cope with it.

AdditionTurn-key Demolition Services ally, other writers such as MIT’s DEC Licensed Transfer Station Sherry Turkle, author of “Alone DEP Licensed Rail Serve Together: Why Transfer & Recycling Services We Expect More From Technology And Less From Licensed Demolition Contractor Each Other” (Basic Books, 2012), Locally Owned & Operated worry about Radio Dispatched the paradoxical isolation that Fully Insured - Free Estimates we have when online – we are On Site Document Destruction all-by-ourselves while connected Same Day Roll Off Service to the world.

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

TECHNOLOGY: CREATIVE DISRUPTION

Where’s The Balance?

Continued from page 13

deal with them while realizing all the time that, to participate in this world, we must be connected? Powers suggests that we take “Internet Sabbaths”, regular times away from connectivity; for the Powers family, it is every Saturday and Sunday. The approach is not unique to the Powers family; many individuals or families set up times or periods with no connectivity – for some it’s weekends, for others, it’s vacations. Nick Bilton, New York Times technology writer had a story on May 12th about a family that goes off line, “Even The Tech

EYE ON

Elites Leave Gadgets Behind” (http:// bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/ disruptions-even-the-tech-elitesleave-gadgets-behind/” and a follow up the next day, “How To Take A Break From Your Technology” (http:// bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/ how-to-take-a-break-from-yourtechnology/) -- we see that even tech people are concerned enough about the personal impact of technology to want a break to recapture other aspects of life.

A Contrarian View

So, now after laying out many of the societal and individual negatives about the Internet World, I close by

saying that I believe that the Internet is the most wonderful tool since man developed fire (with apologies to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who used that image in another context). It provides us with instant worldwide communication, access to more educational material than ever in the history of the world, unparalleled opportunities for business commerce, and has the potential for uniting the world as never before. I use the Internet most waking hours – my Macintosh, PC. and Chromebook for writing, teaching, and other traditional uses; my iPhone for e-mail, texting, apps, photography, and telephony; my Kindles for reading; and my iPad for all of these tasks.

It would be easy to say that I have such involvement because technology has been my career for over 50 years – but it’s more than that; it’s excitement!

– the opportunity to learn more at the stroke of a key. I don’t think that most of us need “Time Outs”; I think that we need, rather, “Intelligent Time” – time spent in focused pursuit of something specific online; the ability to get something of value online that we could not get easily (or at all) off line. We need more and more information to be productive citizens of the 21st Century and the Internet is the vehicle to obtain it – but we need balance in our use of it; we must be its mas-

ters and not its slaves. We also need to work together to address the aforementioned problems of unemployment and a shrinking middle class. We need to deal with the challenges presented by this marvelous evolving technology to receive maximum benefit from it.

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.

Comments and questions are welcome – johnmac13@gmail.com

THEATRE

Two Out of Three

By JOHN SIMON In “The Call,” by Tanya Barfield, we have Peter and Annie, a sterile couple desperate for progeny.

Friendship with a black lesbian couple, Rebecca and Drea, as well as a previous trip to Africa by Peter, inspires them to seek to adopt an African child.

The play opens with dinner chez Annie and Peter for the four of them.

The eagerness to get a child of no more than 18 months, one to forget his real parents, is somewhat muted by the

looks more like age four, which indeed it turns out to be, turning the would-be parents off. Meanwhile the lesbian couple has interesting adventures in India, and a new neighbor of Peter and Annie, the African Alemu, adds impetus to maybe after all adopting the four-yearold. Ms. Barfield is black, and knows whereof she speaks; in fact, the whole play strongly suggests autobiographical origins.

The older lesbian, Rebecca, a refined bourgeoise (probably based on the author), and her lover, Drea, more of a lusty street black, are lively characters, but so are the white couple, includ-

Kelly AuCoin, Eisa Davis, Crystal A. Dickinson and Kerry Butler in the Playwrights Horizons / Primary Stages co-production of Tanya Barfield’s “The Call” at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, New York, NY. Tickets: (212) 279-4200. Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel. phone call that promises one of 2 ½ years. But even that is eventually accepted owing to a cute photograph.

However, as it turns out, the child

ing Peter, whose friend on the previous African trip contracted AIDS there. I don’t wish to go into details, but must observe that the final scene is particularly moving.

Leigh Silverman has directed competently enough, and most of the acting is fine. Thus Elsa Davis’s Rebecca is quietly appealing, but Crystal A. Dickinson, Drea, good in the second act, is over the top in the first. As Peter, Kelly AuCoin is at times a bit too stodgy, but Kerry Butler is perfect as the well-intentioned but ambivalent Annie, and Russell G. Jones gets a good deal out of the sympathetic Alemu.

Bunty Berman Presents

The ambitious musical “Bunty Berman Presents” by Ayub Khan Din is a curious hybrid. Some of it is a sendup of film-making in India’s Bollywood, in what was still called Bombay.

But some of it is a typical Bollywood story, with hero, villains, and lovers, almost a tribute to those gaudy commercial products. This, though, ends as some kind of melodrama, with an admittedly somewhat farcical murder and suicide. There is also some honestto-goodness musical-comedy singing sand dancing, with modest choreography by Josh Prince.

Added interest comes from the lead—Bunty Berman, producer, director, and desperate debtor—being played not by the original actor who got injured, but by the playwright himself who jumped in more than creditably. His real problem is with the book and dialogue, and the songs on which he collaborated with Paul Bogaev, with rather monotonous music and highly questionable lyrics.

The latter tend to be obvious, extremely repetitious, with serious difficulties with rhyme and sometimes even English. Especially annoying is the often imperfect rhyming, as exemplified by such clunkers as lingam and swingin’, as well as ladder and ardor, and many, many more. This sort of thing is worsened by being employed for gap-

Nick Choksi and Lipica Shah in the new musical comedy, “Bunty Berman Presents...” currently performing off-Broadway the Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Photo credit: Monique Carboni. glorifying posters as well as out of a ing sentiments cheesily papered over.

Here then is the story of Bunty, giant papier-mache elephant’s behind, a dependably clichéd yet popular and much more of this sort. Throughproducer-director, whose favorite and out, there is also Nizwar, Bunty’s chief previously beloved leading man, Raj, scenarist, much mocked by him, but has grown too old and too fat. Also tartly responding with sardonic comof his loyal Anglo secretary, Dolly, se- ments often quite funny.

The cast is good: Sorab Wadija cretly in love with him. Of his leading lady, formerly Shaheena, but now the (Raj), Nick Choksi (Saheeb), Gayton glamorous and haughty Shambervi. Of Scott (Dolly), Sevan Greene (Nizthe tea-boy, a kind of gofer, Saleem, in war) and the rest. Only Lipica Shah, love with his childhood playmate, but as Saheena/Shambervi, is not alluring under her new name, contemned by enough. Aptly directed by its artistic her. Also of the criminal turned mil- director, Scott Elliott, this is a New lionaire, Shankar Dass, hated by Bunty, Group production, as were previous, but the only one who could underwrite superior efforts by Ayub Khan Din— the bankrupt Bunty’s current project, “East Is East” and “Rafta, Rafta…”— yet only if it will star his arrogant son but those weren’t musicals, happily.

I have often urged you to catch Chandra, who does a drag nightclub act as chanteuse Sandra De Souza, of “Encores!’ at City Center, the sevenwhom his father, not recognizing him performance, semi-staged revivals of as that and rejected, is furiously enam- musicals past, some Broadway hits, some undeserved flops. This time we ored.

Also in drag comes Raj, as a blind got “On Your Toes” (1936), by Rodgfortune teller, unheeded by Bunty. Raj ers & Hart at their best. It starred Ray even sticks his head out of one of his Continued on page 15

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

EYE ON

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

THEATRE

Two Out of Three

Continued from page 14 Bolger, brilliant in the part of Junior, the ex-vaudevillian and college music teacher, turned awkward, love-smitten partner of the great Ballet Russe prima ballerina Vera Baronova.

He invites two jealousies: that of his studentcomposer Frankie Frayne, in love with him; and that of Vera’s lover, the tempestuous ballet dancer Konstantine Morosine, who hires assassins to truly shoot Junior at the end of his suicidal closing solo in the ballet “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” composed by a student of his.

There is much satire and comedy involving the imperious impresario Sergei Aleksandrovitch (here the amusing Walter Bobbie) and the company’s ditsy American patroness, Peggy Porterfield (the no less amusing Christine Baranski). Vera calls for a major ballerina, and is here embodied by the wonderful Irina Dvorovenko, who proves as delightful comic actress as superlative ballerina.

Unfortunately, in an otherwise excellent production, Junior is played by Shonn Wiley, an adequate hoofer, but not the first-rate comediansinger-dancer that Bolger was, as were Bobby Van

and especially Lara Teeter in subsequent revivals, two of them directed by the great George Abbott.

This was originally George Balanchine’s choreographic American breakthrough, but Warren Carlyle’s direction and choreography here were splendid too. And the score, with a handful of superb numbers—notably “A Small Hotel” and “Glad to Be Unhappy,” and the two terrific comic ballets, “Princess Zenobia” and “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue—could not be more enchanting.

This summer, “Encores!” will offer three shows for somewhat longer runs each, and thus easier to catch. You should make every effort to see at least one.

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 website.

PEOPLE

Kiwanis Club of East Yonkers Honors Nurses Olivia Jackson and Wilber Alavanza RN’s Olivia Jackson and Wilber Alavanza were honored as two of the winners of the 2013 Nurse Recognition Award from the Kiwanis Club of East Yonkers on May 9th at the Kiwanis Club’s 4th Annual Nurse Appreciation Awards Dinner. Jackson has served as the school nurse for the John A. Coleman School in Yonkers since January 2012 and was recently accepted into the Nurse Practioner Program at Villanova University. Alavanza has worked for the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center since 2008, serving in the

Riverside neighborhood. The ceremony was attended by distinguished guests including Mayor of Yonkers Mike Spano, New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Westchester County Executive Robert F. Astorino.

“Everyone at the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center and John A. Coleman School are delighted that Wilber Alavanza and Olivia Jackson were publicly recognized by the Kiwanis Club of East Yonkers for their outstanding service to the children Continued on page 16

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Page 15

Page 16

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

PEOPLE

Kiwanis Club of East Yonkers Honors Nurses Olivia Jackson and Wilber Alavanza Continued from page 15

receiving specialized medical care at our organizations,” said Patricia Tursi, Chief Executive Officer, Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center. “We see every day Wilber’s and Olivia’s compassionate and professional commitment to our children and it is nice to know that now the greater Yonkers community is aware of their dedication as

well.”

Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center, founded in 1987 by the Sisters of Charity of New York, provides expert nursing and rehabilitation to some 350 children and adolescents per year. Children come to Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center with serious medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, premature

birth complications, congenital heart disease, chronic lung disease, chromosome disorders, metabolic disorders, respiratory disorders, muscular and neurological diseases, and immunodeficiency syndromes. The majority stay a year or more, receiving comprehensive health care, rehabilitation, and special education. Guided by the belief that

no disability or diagnosis should deprive a child of the right to learn and play, the Center’s multidisciplinary staff works collaboratively to help each child achieve goals, acquire new abilities, and enjoy the pleasures of childhood.

The John A. Coleman School, with campuses in White Plains and Yonkers, provides home, community and center based special education and therapeutic programs to children from

birth to 21 years of age. The School provides services to children from over 50 school districts in Westchester, Putnam, Bronx, and Manhattan. The Yonkers Campus serves the residents of the Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center, a nationally recognized pediatric long term care facility. Last year the Coleman School served over 1,000 children and their families.

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necticut, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont. Volunteers receive T-shirts and possible other gifts like movie tickets, upcycled bags, or Red Sox tickets, depending on the time they commit to the program. To sign up go to www. jimmyfund.org/theatre or contact Catie Hsieh at catherine_hsieh@dfci.harvard.edu or 617-582-7724.

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CIVIC

This Old House: Albany

By EDWARD C. SULLIVAN

From time to time, we receive articles from talented writers which we think should be brought to our readers’ attention.

One of our most distinguished contributors is former Assemblyman Edward C. Sullivan, who represented the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 26 years. Here, Mr. Sullivan discusses various reform proposals for Albany to consider. With wit and insight, he evaluates each idea and makes his recommendation.

You may well have your own feel-

ings about the suggestions below and many others which have been offered. We encourage you to join the discussion on the Internet and let your voice be heard.

----- Henry J. Stern Albany, New York, is old. It’s dusty and moldy. The floor boards creak. The windows don’t shut right. The locks on the doors are broken, and scavengers come in and steal what isn’t tied down.

It needs a good cleaning, with a stiff broom, one made with fresh cut-twigs, like the ones witches use -- and some Lysol.

There are about three or four solu-

tions offered for every problem in the way Albany operates. Some solutions are good, some are bad, some are idealistic, some are conniving. Let’s take a look.

Get rid of member items. Bad idea, and conniving.

There are projects all over the State of New York that are worthy recipients of State funding. These projects perform services that are off the beaten path. They are necessary to the diverse society we live in.

Elected representatives – Senators and Assembly Members – know these projects better than Albany bureaucrats. And the temptation to fund politically attractive projects is no stronger for legislators than it is for the

Governor and his aides.

Reducing member items to zero, and putting all such funding in the hands of the Governor, is simply a power shift. It is not reform.

Improve the member item process.

Good idea.

Each item should be made public from the moment of submission.

Each member of the Legislature should get the same amount in total member item funding.

Each item should have to submit to a thorough examination – by a committee in each house of the Legislature, by the Division of the Budget (i.e. the Governor), and by the Comptroller, before the check is written. If the item passes and turns out be a bad

idea, there should plenty of blame to go around. Little by little this will reduce the junk items.

Conflict of interest rules should be tightened and enforced.

Campaign contribution limits should be lowered. Good idea.

When someone contributes more than $1000 to a legislator’s campaign, he wants something back. That is the essence of corruption. Maybe that could be $5000 for a Governor’s race, or $3000 for the Comptroller and the Attorney General.

One could quibble about the numbers, but the recipient should be able to run an adequate campaign even if one of his supporters gets mad Continued on page 17

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

NEW YORK

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

CIVIC

This Old House: Albany

Continued from page 16

and stops his contributions. That is the essence of independence.

In answer to a contributor’s question “Why do you think I contributed to your campaign?” a politician should be able to answer: “Not so you could tell me what to do, but because you thought I would do a good job for the people.”

Term limits. Bad idea.

The people should be able to choose anyone they like for office.

No one is suggesting term limits for bureaucrats, for political aides, for lobbyists or for the press, or for any other forces that might have an effect on legislation, and who might benefit or suffer from government action or non-action.

Only those elected by the people are suspect. Only the people’s chosen representatives would be automatically be put out of office, no matter what the people want. The people’s reps will be perpetually naive.

I challenge the devotion to democracy of anyone who supports term limits, even for executives, and certainly for legislators.

-

Page 17

Since the Presidential term limits were enacted in 1951, four Presidents – Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton and Bush -- might have been elected to a third term. Neither Eisenhower nor Reagan would have run, it is certain.

Maybe Clinton would have run and won, though I doubt it. Bush maybe would have run, but almost surely would have lost the election. So what has this limitation on our right to choose our President gained us?

Campaign finance law. Good idea.

Like New York City’s law, it would put pressure on an incumbent legislator to do a good job. If he or she doesn’t, a well-financed insurgent will come after his or her seat.

That would be a better method than term limits for removing those who have stayed too long at the fair.

Better press coverage by the New York City press. Good idea.

Livelier press coverage, not in the service of one political party, but as part of the search for truth in public affairs, would go a long way toward

praising and encouraging good legislative work, and putting a harsh spotlight on skullduggery.

A lot of good things get done in Albany, but they go unreported. Oliver Koppel, when he was an Assembly Member, was Chair of the Committee on Environmental Conservation.

He was Mister Environment for the State of New York. Most people upstate knew him well. But in the city his work got no press, and most people didn’t even know who he was. That wasn’t his fault. That was the persistent negligence of the New York City press – newspaper and TV. May Newberger of Nassau County was the leading female Member of the Assembly. Her debates for women’s rights against the recalcitrant Members of the Assembly, both Democrats and Republicans, were brilliant and often dispositive during the 1980’s. But the New York City press treated her with disdain, and few city people knew of her battles.

One Member of the Assembly, who has done serious work in many fields in the State Assembly, told me: “The press looks upon us as either crooks or clowns. If we behave like a crook or a clown, they cover us. If we

do good legislative work, they ignore us.”

This is not an attempt to pass the buck. It’s just a reality that affects New York politics negatively.

Take away the pensions of legislators convicted of crimes. Bad idea.

Pension money does not belong to the State. It belongs to the worker, in this case the legislator.

If the judge visiting a penalty upon a convicted legislator wants to punish him with a fine, he can do that.

But for a legislature to punish a convicted felon by making such a huge fine mandatory would be an excessive use of legislative, as contrasted with judicial power.

The search for an automatic fix to corruption in Albany, or in American society, is bound to come up empty.

Eternal vigilance is the price of our liberty, Thomas Jefferson said, and that goes as well for democratic government, uncorrupt and serving the people.

Edward C. Sullivan served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2002.

Henry J. Stern is the founder and president of New York Civic.

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

GOVERNMENT

Places to Park in the Village of Bronxville

By Mayor MARY C. MARVIN In a new initiative, some of our merchants stayed open late last Thursday to accommodate Mother’s Day shoppers and it resulted in a busy, vibrant and profitable spring evening in the Village.

As we promote shopping locally, many of you have cited the seemingly dearth of parking as a prime reason for shopping elsewhere. However, with a little advance knowledge and guidance, whether you are a resident, merchant or visitor to Bronxville, there are places to park for varying lengths of time without risk of getting a ticket.

Most of the parking in the Village metered lots do require a permit between the hours of 8AM and 3PM, so be diligent in reading signs.

However, all of these same meters labeled merchant or resident allow

anyone to use the spaces after 3PM each day.

For residents of the Village, resident parking permits are available for $20 per year and entitle residents to park in those spaces in Village lots designated “Residents Only” at any time. Parkers must still feed the meters.

Bronxville residents who need to park for the entire day (long term) in the Village or near the train station may obtain a resident permit at Village Hall and park at the “Resident Parking” meters along the railroad tracks in the Kraft Avenue Lot or on the perimeter of the second lot on Kensington Road. These “quarters only” meters cost $0.50 per hour Monday through Friday and $1.00 per hour on Saturday and free on Sunday.

If feeding the meter is undesirable, residents may purchase a prepaid commuter buy-out for an annual

fee of $900. This permit allows parking at all of the meters mentioned above as well as the Avalon Lot on the West Side. In an effort to promote green initiatives and save valuable parking spaces, residents driving Vespas/motorbikes may park for free in the Avalon Lot after obtaining their free permit at Village Hall.

If you are not eligible for a resident parking permit, you can still park at all street meters or in the public meter sections of the Cedar Street, Garden Avenue, Kraft Avenue and Lower Kensington II Lots. These meters all vary in length of stay from 90 minutes to 12 hours so read the signs carefully.

The longest term meters (up to 12 hours) are available at the following sites: All meters on Kensington Road except for the first eight spaces nearest to 1 Pondfield Road All meters on Meadow Avenue

All meters at the angled spaces on Stone Place These spaces are a great solution for all-day visitors.

Parking is prohibited on all Village streets between the hours of 3AM and 7AM and cars are ticketed accordingly. This is not only for the obvious needs of street cleaning and snow removal, but also to spot abandoned or suspicious cars left on Village streets. However, overnight parking permits are available to residents and qualifying merchants and cost $230 per year. This permit allows a resident to park a vehicle in the Cedar Street, Garden Avenue or Maltby parking lot between 6PM and 8AM every day as well as all day Sunday.

However, if you do not use your car for commutation, this is not a good solution.

If you own a home in the Village that does not have a garage or driveway as part of the property title or you have plans to purchase or rent such a home, you may put your name on the reserved parking waiting list and Village staff will contact you three

times when a space becomes available. If you are still interested even after the third notification but have yet to purchase or rent your home, you may still remain on the list but will move to the end. These reserved spaces are dedicated twenty-four hours a day parking spaces and cost $110 per month.

The Village also has parking arrangements for merchants, both long and short term, so that street parking spaces will be free and available for store customer parking. If merchants or their employees park in street parking places, they are doing their business and the neighboring businesses a great disservice. To alleviate this outcome, we have many parking options for merchants and employees and urge them to call the Village Parking Office at 337-6500 ext. 108 or 337-2024 to understand the variety of plans available.

As easy reference:

by years of government intrusion and strict approval processes. In Austin a typical major development project usually takes about a year and 1/2 to be approved. A similar project in New York can take 10 years, or more for final approvals to break ground.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. It needs to be our main focus right now in New York.

Texas has created a prosperous and business friendly state. Businesses of all sizes and types are looking to employee people with varying professional backgrounds and experiences.

Providing appropriate tax breaks and job credits to employers is the first step that needs to be taken. This business friendly environment is clearly reflected in their unemployment numbers. In February of 2013, Austin ranked as one of the best cities for employment with an unemployment rate of 5%, compared to New York’s 8.8% rate.

In our most recent budget we were able to include tax credits for businesses that employ veterans. We must go much further though. Making the employment of New Yorkers a worthwhile task is something our state government can easily do. Texas rewards job creators; it is time for New York to do the same.

New York is the Empire State with so much to offer. Many say our

best days are behind us. If we continue at the rate we have been going that very well could be the case. Texas offers a model that can help turn things around. We can bring back jobs and economic activity to our state.

To my colleagues in the legislature, to this good Governor and to all local elected officials: As citizens of the Empire State, the choice is ours.

This is our moment, and time is of the essence. Tinkering around the edges will only slow the blood flow, it will not halt the ongoing decline. To stop being ranked, year after year, as 50th in all the wrong ways, we must immediately change our tax climate, redirect huge resources to critical infrastructure, pass innovative funding mechanisms like public private partnership legislation and streamline our planning and environmental reviews to help builders, developers and job creators do what they do best, create jobs.

Maybe some in government like being lapped, I don’t. Let’s get the Empire State back on track and moving in the right direction. It’s time to lead the pack, once again.

Mary C. Marvin is the mayor of the Village of Bronxville, New York. Direct email to mayor@vobny.com.

economic development

New York has Fallen to the Back of the Pack

By Senator GREG BALL I recently returned from an Economic Development Tour in Austin, Texas and while the focus was on jobs and economic development, I took time most days to run the 8 miles or so around the city’s lake.

Austin is a fit city and as I ran around the lake, I was repeatedly passed. The competitor in me took notice. Indeed, Texas is moving, and they are moving fast, but not just on the trails that wrap around their lakes.

Texas is moving economically – and New York better take notice.

The first thing you notice is new construction everywhere. And unlike in New York State, the construction is not exclusively public projects. There is private investment spurring private construction and development everywhere. Smartly, the public sector is keeping pace investing in their infrastructure and building new bridges, roads and public works projects.

I went in search of the key factors that make Texas appealing to economic drivers and job producers from around the world. I quickly real-

ized Texas government works hand in hand with entrepreneurs and innovators to streamline economic development. In fact, in the 2013 Thumbtack. com U.S. Small Business Friendliness Survey, Texas was rated A for overall friendliness, while New York trailed the pack with a D+ rating.

In meetings with key business and political leaders I came away with three key deliverables New York must enact to ensure we stay viable as a state: 1) Public-private partnerships 2) Cutting red tape and 3) Supporting job creators. While New York has become the “exodus” state, Texas has grown in population by 20.6%, according to the 2012 census, which translates to over 1,000 new residents every single day – we do not have time to waste.

Public-private partnerships (P3) have proved very beneficial in Texas.

Austin City Hall is an example of this government innovation. The city developed a new city hall with mixeduse commercial space. The project benefits both the public interest and private business ventures while limiting the financial responsibilities of taxpayers.

The state government has also

been able to utilize recently passed legislation to remove financial responsibility from the taxpayer while ensuring critical public works projects are completed. This legislation saves Texas taxpayer’s significant sums of money, all while ensuring high paying jobs for Texas and completing important projects of concern to the public.

New York could easily embrace P3 legislation and use it to properly complete the Tappan Zee Bridge project. In one fell swoop, such an action would create more than 50,000 good paying local jobs. New York based pension funds, endowments, and other investment mechanisms could invest right here in the Empire State. We could deliver a fully transit ready bridge while ensuring good paying jobs for New Yorkers. I urge Governor Cuomo and all government leaders to join with me in supporting public private partnerships, alleviating tax payer liabilities and ensuring our economic growth, immediately.

Reduced regulation and red tape is another bright spot for Texas. We have heard about it for many years in New York, but great projects and economic opportunities are delayed

Senator Greg Ball serves the constiyuents who reside on the 40th Senate District. Direct email to gball@NYSenate.gov and learn more at http:// ball.senate.gov

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 19

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Economic Burden of Downtown New Rochelle

By PEGGY GODFREY Reaction to the news that a Texas Limited partnership wanted to sell the Avalon 39 story apartment building in downtown New Rochelle was swift. The building had been given a 30-year tax abatement in 2005 by the New Rochelle City Council presided over by present Mayor Noam Bramson and recent Westchester County Democratic Committee designee for Westchester County Executive challenging incumbent Rob Astorino. Holiday Feroglio Fowler LP (HHF) is putting up the 588-apartment building for sale; it has a 98% residential occupancy rate.

The 7,807 square feet ground floor commercial space has an occupancy rate of only 32%. This circumstance is a disappointment to the New Rochelle taxpayers; the commercial space by staying vacant does not generating tax revenues.

The New Rochelle City Council voted their approval of a 30-year

tax abatement for The Avalon’s benefit. The 30-year tax abatement also known as a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) is valid through 2035.

This means the City of New Rochelle, its schools and library garner diminished tax payments until 2035.

The lack of commercial development will also diminish any taxes that were contemplated to be collected. Further, The New Rochelle Industrial Development Corporation tax breaks will not create the jobs promised and fewer taxes will be paid since so few businesses have moved into the still mostly vacant commercial property.

What is evident is the number of children whose school costs are not covered in the PILOT. The number of children going to public school exceeded the number projected by the developer. Again, the New Rochelle taxpayers continue to be burdened to shoulder millions of dollars of unrealized but contemplated revenue.

58 children were projected in the original report but there are 146 in the buildings that are estimated to

cost the school district more than $3 million a year. The PILOT payment in 2012 was slated to be a bit over $1,100. The lack of jobs created can be greater cause for more scrutiny at the state level by the Office of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. In 2010 the NYS Comptroller found the cost per job created by New Rochelle’s IDA was one of the highest in New York State, over $30,000 per job.

Another troublesome situation is the approval of the parking variance given to the Avalon East building, the first within the complex, when it was sold to Hartz Mountain. The City of New Rochelle has had many downtown parking problems including some created by the Avalon buildings. With the first building (as will happen with the second Avalon building) the 30 year PILOT will be transferred to the new owner. In effect Mayor Bramson has led the New Rochelle City Council and the taxpayers down a path of deceit and serious financial distress.

City services are being consumed

at a high rate in this area of the City, but there is no attempt to alter these PILOT agreements to ask for money to cover the added costs. Certainly the lack of commercial or retail businesses in these buildings is a reason to review the PILOT. Council leadership under Mayor Bramson has been deflective toward remedy and passive in its tendency to mitigate the financial burden. Bramson has not sought answers as to why these downtown developments have not helped the City’s economy.

An example, at issue, is the proposed new Monroe College dormitory which gained approval by the Planning Board, whose membership were each appointed by Mayor Bramson. Monroe officials told residents the Monroe dormitories lose money. An unanswered issue is if, or whether tax certioraris assessment valuations will be used to challenge the city after the dorms are built?

Neither was the affect of students not needing the Avalon buildings after the dormitory is built. Will the

Avalon building continue to be at 98% occupancy and / or will there be more small or one-parent families with children who will move into these Avalon apartments? The concern is whether such a circumstance will exacerbate the already financially strained school district and do so further.

The conclusion New Rochelle taxpayers are deducing is that ADS since CLASSIFIED Space Availableno safeguards are built Office into the City Council, Planning Board or IDA Prime Retail - Westchester County agreements, the homeowners will continue to be unfairlyHELP coerced WANTEDinto shouldering the financial burden once again.

Page 26

The WesTchesTer Guardian

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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

Deer, Warburton Bridge Construction, and Saturday Garbage Drop-off

By Mayor PETER SWIDERSKI

Deer

We have several things of general interest coming up.

Dr. Rutberg presented on the pioneering deer immunocontraception effort we hope to carry out here should the DEC provide approval and a license. He described the previous experiments he was involved in at Fripp Island in South Carolina, Fire Island and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a campus setting in Maryland. Success rates in these different environments ranged from 40% to 55% drop-offs in deer

numbers over the experiment period.

These are similar to what we see in lethal population control methods and such a result in Hastings would be a major success. We continue to work with New York State to get the permit issued. If we get the license we will need help from residents to collect all sorts of metrics, such as deer sightings, damage to the forest, car collisions and property damage.

If you are interested in helping out, please feel free to reach out at my email address mayor@hastingsgov. org.

Warburton Bridge

The Warburton Bridge, just south of the downtown (which spans

the commuter parking lot and from which you can see Cropsey) is in bad need of repair and faces a major construction effort that will shut all but one south-bound lane for two years starting this coming winter. It will be a mess, I am afraid. We’ll lose upwards of forty parking spots during this unavoidable effort, and traffic patterns will be disrupted. Nobody in the Warburton neighborhood is going to enjoy this. The Department of Transportation and County Planning presented their first idea for the design of the new bridge. With a suicide-prevention fence arching up ten feet and modern lighting, it arrived with a bit of a thud. The Board

asked for a design with lighting in keeping with what we see downtown and with fencing less institutional than the chain link that was proffered. When a next design is ready for Board review, we will make sure there is adequate public notice so you, too, can review what is planned for this bridge with such great views.

Saturday Garbage Drop-off

We are the only remaining community with a Saturday morning garbage drop-off, down at the DPW facility. This service, paid by overtime dollars and frequently abused by out-of-town residents and contractors who try to sneak their garbage in, is something we are looking to

scale back to once a month to save money on salary, gas, equipment wear-and-tear and the cost of carting the garbage to a disposal facility, (as well as lowering exhaust fumes by not running a motor for four hours.)

We will be discussing this initiative at our next meeting and welcome hearing from the public regarding these scaled-back hours. A reminder: all bulk garbage can always be scheduled for pickup from your home by calling 914-478-2171. You do not need to drop it off.

Peter Swiderski is the mayor of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. Direct email to him: mayor@hastingsgov.org

CURRENT COMMENTARY

The Not-So-Inside Skinny On The IRS Scandal

By LARRY M. ELKIN President Obama was shocked – shocked! – to learn from press reports that the Internal Revenue Service has been singling out his political opponents for special scrutiny.

Clearly, the top-secret Daily Brief that the CIA prepares for the leader of the free world is a major waste of time. (Even Obama seems to think so, judging from last year’s reports that he skips nearly half of his scheduled briefings.) If the president cares to know what his own administration is doing, he might find it useful to read this column instead.

We’re here for you every weekday, Mr. President.

I’m not in Washington, and I’m not in the government, yet I knew and wrote 14 months ago that the IRS had improperly aligned itself with Democrats who were desperate to circumvent the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The latest gambit was to challenge requests for tax-exempt status by non-profit organizations with conservative viewpoints. The IRS commissioner at the time, Douglas Shulman, denied any such political discrimination, but this was unpersuasive in light of his agency’s short-lived attack a year ear-

lier on wealthy donors to such groups, whom the IRS ludicrously threatened to slap with gift taxes.

“Once again, I will confidently predict that the Service will be forced to back off,” I wrote last year, after the targeted non-profits complained about intrusive and irrelevant IRS questioning. “But at the rate things are going, it may not happen before the agency’s professional reputation takes a significant hit, and that is not a good thing for the country.”

Lo and behold, last week the IRS belatedly acknowledged that it inappropriately targeted conservative political groups that applied for tax-exempt status, for which they are eligible under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, before and during the 2012 campaign. Lois Lerner, the IRS official who oversees tax-exempt groups, apologized twice but said that the actions, while wrong, were not politically motivated.

Things got worse for the IRS and the Democrats over the weekend.

Reuters obtained part of a report that is expected to become public soon, which indicates that, at various times, the IRS targeted certain groups based on “issues” criteria, such as references to government spending or criticism of the current administration. The report also indicates that Lerner was made aware of the targeting as early

as June 2011 (when the IRS was also making its gift tax threats).

The president claimed prior ignorance at a news conference on Monday, denounced the IRS behavior as “outrageous” and promised not to tolerate it in the future. I am not sure exactly what he meant, but I hope it is something different than when he pledged not to tolerate the use of chemical weapons in Syria or the development of nuclear arms in North Korea and Iran. I don’t think U.N. Security Council resolutions will work any better at the IRS. The tax agency’s contention that mere low-level employees in Cincinnati misinterpreted the law, acting alone and with no political motivation or direction, is absurd on its face. The various attacks on politically active 501(c)(4) groups were reported on the front pages of major newspapers and were the subject of congressional inquiries. Though the IRS positions were obviously deeply flawed – any tax professional, myself included, could see that – they fit a pattern of resistance that followed Citizens United, which the administration has bitterly opposed, from the president down.

Whether the policy was directed from the top or initiated at the grass roots (IRS employees belong to a Treasury employees union that does

not consider Republicans friendly) and merely permitted by those who could have stopped it, frustrating political activity by conservative-aligned groups was clearly its objective.

Even now, the IRS tries to justify itself on grounds that political activity by a not-for-profit is not authorized as part of a “social welfare” objective.

Yet AARP, the National Rifle Association and MoveOn.org are all 501(c)(4) groups, and all are major political forces. Rightly so.

Any discussion of social welfare automatically involves policy. Policy involves politics, and politics involves the First Amendment. Section 501(c) (4) itself does not proscribe political activity by social welfare organizations. The relevant IRS regulation only limits activity in favor of specific candidates, which is debatably valid under the First Amendment, but does not limit groups from taking

positions on political issues, an activity that is clearly protected.

Former IRS Commissioner Donald Alexander stood up to Richard Nixon when the former president tried to co-opt the agency into harassing his opponents. The House of Representatives included the misuse of the IRS in its articles of impeachment against Nixon.

But is there any personal accountability for the latest IRS malfeasance? Not thus far. The agency as a whole says it is “sorry” and seems prepared to throw its still-unidentified staff members in Cincinnati under the bus, but not a single individual currently or formerly serving in government has stepped forward to say, “It was my fault.”

We’ll see where the buck stops, but one thing is certain: It doesn’t stop in Cincinnati.

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, has provided personal financial and tax counseling to a sophisticated client base since 1986. After six years with Arthur Andersen, where he was a senior manager for personal financial planning and family wealth planning, he founded his own firm in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., in 1992. That firm grew steadily and became the Palisades Hudson organization, which moved to Scarsdale, N.Y., in 2002. The firm expanded to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2005 and to Atlanta in 2008.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 21

CAMPAIGN TRAIL The WesTchesTer Guardian Candida Conservative Party Endorse s Yonkers tes

Page 26

YONKERS, NY -- Westchester County Conservative Committee Chairman Hugh Fox, Jr. today announced the endorsement of the following candidates for office in the City of Yonkers: Yonkers City Court Judge Arthur J. Doran, III

Candidate for Yonkers City Council President Grace Borrani (pictured) Yonkers City Council Member 6th District John Larkin Yonkers City Council Member 4th District Dennis Shepherd Westchester County Legislator 14th District Bernice Spreckman

Westchester County Legislator 15th District Gordon Burrows

The candidates were recommended to Chairman Hugh Fox, Jr. and the Executive Committee

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HELP WANTED

LEGAL NOTICES FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER In the Matter of ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

SUMMONS AND INQUEST NOTICE

Chelsea Thomas (d.o.b. 7/14/94), A Child Under 21 Years of Age Adjudicated to be Neglected by

Dkt Nos. NN-10514/15/16-10/12C NN-2695/96-10/12B FU No.: 22303

Tiffany Ray and Kenneth Thomas, Respondents.

X NOTICE: PLACEMENT OF YOUR CHILD IN FOSTER CARE MAY RESULT IN YOUR LOSS OF YOUR RIGHTS TO YOUR CHILD. IF YOUR CHILD STAYS IN FOSTER CARE FOR 15 OF THE MOST RECENT 22 MONTHS, THE AGENCY MAY BE REQUIRED BY LAW TO FILE A PETITION TO TERMINATE YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS AND COMMITMENT OF GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE CHILD FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION, AND MAY FILE BEFORE THE END OF THE 15-MONTH PERIOD. UPON GOOD CAUSE, THE COURT MAY ORDER AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE NON-RESPONSENT PARENT(s) SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A RESPONDENT; IF THE COURT DETERMINES THE CHILD SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM HIS/HER HOME, THE COURT MAY ORDER AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE NON-RESPONDENT PARENT(s) SHOULD BE SUITABLE CUSTODIANS FOR THE CHILD; IF THE CHILD IS PLACED AND REMAINS IN FOSTER CARE FOR FIFTEEN OF THE MOST RECENT TWENTY-TWO MONTHS, THE AGENCY MAY BE REQUIRED TO FILE A PETITION FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS OF THE PARENT(s) AND COMMITMENT OF GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE CHILD FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION, EVEN IF THE PARENT(s) WERE NOT NAMED AS RESPONDENTS IN THE CHILD NEGLECT OR ABUSE PROCEEDING. A NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT HAS THE RIGHT TO REQUEST TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT CUSTODY OF THE CHILD AND TO SEEK ENFORCEMENT OF VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THE CHILD.

BY ORDER OF THE FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK TO THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENT(S) WHO RESIDE(S) OR IS FOUND AT [specify address(es)]: Last known addresses: TIFFANY RAY: 24 Garfield Street, #3, Yonkers, NY 10701 Last known addresses: KENNETH THOMAS: 24 Garfield Street, #3, Yonkers, NY 10701 An Order to Show Cause under Article 10 of the Family Court Act having been filed with this Court seeking to modify the placement for the above-named child.

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before this Court at Yonkers Family Court located at 53 So. Broadway, Yonkers, New York, on the 28th day of March, 2012 at 2;15 pm in the afternoon of said day to answer the petition and to show cause why said child should not be adjudicated to be a neglected child and why you should not be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Family Court Act. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that you have the right to be represented by a lawyer, and if the Court finds you are unable to pay for a lawyer, you have the right to have a lawyer assigned by the Court.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that if you fail to appear at the time and place noted above, the Court will hear and determine the petition as provided by law.

Dated: January 30, 2012 2 column

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Page 22

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

OP-EDSection THE HEZITORIAL

Dr. Rev. Bostic’s Ploys Reveal His Continuing Failure and Giving Birth to His Anger, Threats, and Tragic Outcomes Sequestration Is a Culprit This Year; But Not the Only One

By HEZI ARIS The telling by the Yonkers Tribune was sufficient for Dr. Rev. Jim Bostic to take notice.

So did those living in the reality of being aware, but insufficient in number to overcome those who would rather delude themselves by learning differently. The scenario of deceit and disregard for people in his employ had been learned and

strengthened their effectiveness in controlling people for his benefit exclusively. Most who were employed stayed because they had an interest in changing the future. It was an elusive yearning; it would demand vigilance, focus, resiliency, and stamina to endure circumstance, bigotry, but mostly is required the patience by which education can be consumed… slowly.

The circumstances revolved about the lack of money, drugs, role models, lack of guidance, parental involve-

ment, among other concerns. Remedy was expected to come from the Nepperhan Community Center. The Rev. Dr. Bostic would be able to bring a sense of neighborhood cohesion and the emphasis of education to those who wanted to better themselves. The funding to attain those goals were in time set in place. From its early days Dr. Rev. Bostic knew how to game the system, and he did. For years he employed those who offered their talents and expertise toward reviving the

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Secy. of State is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. Secy. of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her to DACK Consulting Solutions, 2 William St., Suite 202 White Plains, NY 10601. Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.

MSA WHITE PLAINS ROAD LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 3/28/13. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 2958 3rd Ave Bronx, NY 10455. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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minds wasted in the ‘hood. The wick was lit; the promise of knowledge a gateway toward a better life had revealed a promise of hope.

Little was known of Dr. Rev. Bostic. He gathered too many formerly incarcerated people around him. Bostic was quick to use taxpayer funds to create a world that served him and the community he was employed to serve were forgotten. Bostic had been hired as executive director of the Nepperhan Community Center (NCC). The title

SEAVEST INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/8/13. Office location: Westchester Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 2/20/13 SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to The LLC 707 Westchester Ave White Plains, NY 10604. DE address of LLC:1209 Orange ST Wilmington, DE 19801. Arts. Of Org. filed with DE Secy. of State, PO Box 898 Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: any lawful activity.

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SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 11 Cooper St. Yonkers, NY 10704.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

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allowed him freedom to do the “right thing” or to deceive the taxpayer. Bostic chose the latter. And deceive he did.

His tales of his subterfuge of the system were many. He tested the system’s professed mechanisms of scrutiny and found them deficient. He learned he had the upper hand. He clings to the conventional believing through trial and error that it will do, not realizing that the very repetitive nature of his conduct will eventually do him in. And it is.

For many years, those Bostic would hire for the NCC would be employed during the same times as those in the Yonkers Board of Education. Of late, Bostic was given the latest software technology so he could stay within the parameters of affordability based on the funding NCC would obtain in grants, funding, and donations.

But Bostic wanted more. More for himself. He wanted vacation for himself and a special friend; he wanted a patronage mill of “friends and family”, that is, people who do noting more than collect a paycheck.

In 2008 Yonkers Tribune reported he had not paid staff feigning having not received all the funding to operate.

Of late, those stories of running out of funding at the end of the school year and starting the year without funding demanded those who were employed to work for nothing. And so many did.

They were played. They lost wages for which they deserved to be paid, but no one wOULD listen; such was the power of Rev. Dr. Jim Bostic.

Continued on page 23

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

Page 23

THE HEZITORIAL

Dr. Rev. Bostic’s Ploys Reveal His Continuing Failure and Giving Birth to His Anger, Threats, and Tragic Outcomes Continued from page 22 Five years later, in 2013, the same scenario is resurrected. Bostic has run out of money. He has threatened that anyone who does not attend work as was initially intended, he, that is Bostic, advised his supervisors to mark the employees terminated in order that they not be permitted to collect unemployment insurance. Bostic had turned his employees into slaves endentured to his service with no pay.

He did not advise the NCC Board of Directors. The Board knew nothing of any issues. A recent audit by the employed CPA firm found nothing to be concerned about; everything was OK. How could that be if people have not been paid for one months’ time, two pay periods.

When Bostic learned that the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDoL) had received complaints with regard to the employees being paid, and the NYSDoL would conduct an investigation very soon, Bostic became livid.

His not paying every two weeks has caused hardship. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. Missing two checks has caused problems with landlords, paying car loans, paying for groceries, among so much more. Even so, Rev. Dr. Bostic has not shed a tear.

He does not account for missing computer systems, iPad that have gone missing, an unfinished basement paid to be refurbished, and growing mold.

Dr. Rev. Bostic’s supporters would like to paint a different picture of him.

They do not comprehend the threats against workers. Pure unadulterated evil is not an easy concept. Yonkers City Councilman Christopher Johnson remains unaware; Yonkers City Democratic Committee Chair Symra Brandon has no answer, yet she sits on the board. Mayor Mike Spano’s Office is diligently track CBGB funds the NCC had received and who signed off on projects allegedly completed.

“Friends and Family” advise Bostic has advised all workers that he was hurt by a shortfall in funding. He will only admit that he is short $200,000 but does not explain the rational of its

taking place. He does not explain his threats to staff terminations, and why the workers who have invested their time and money must suffer Bostic’s threats with no advisement when they will get paid.

Yonkers Tribune have learned of the culprit of 2013. It is sequestration: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ sss/21stCCLC/ “Sequestration—The President was required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended, to issue a sequestration order on March 1, 2013, for automatic spending cuts to Federal Government programs for the remainder of the fiscal year, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Therefore, available funding for awards will be reduced from approximately $82 million, as stated in the RFP, to approximately $76.5 million, unfortunately resulting in fewer programs being funded.”

The sequestration funding differential noted above is said to have reduced Federal funding specific to NCC through New York State to be reduced from $450,000 to $250,000. It

is the $200,000 differential that is said to be the issue that has cast the scenario of the past to be repeated. Bostic has not advised his Board of Directors of this circumstance. No one has been notified. Why is he threatening his staff with termination? Why has be not admitted to not paying staff? Why has he not called upon the Albany Delegation to assist him in this fiscal plight; they have enabled him and the community to benefit somewhat? Why is he not reachable? Why is he not communicating with his Board of Directors?

Has Dr. Rev. Bostic upon learning of the Federal shortfall due to sequestration done anything to raise more funds to fill the $200,000 shortfall? Any fundraising efforts? Request from City Hall, community fundraising efforts? Any of the no show check collectors taken off the Bostic “payroll” to pay the workers who earn their keep? Why not? Dr. Rev. Bostic’s reduction in his pay is too little too late. He is still getting paid and the workers get paid nothing.

Dr. Rev. Jim Bostic has learned to scam the community with his lies and deceit; same for scamming City Hall,

the students who want to learn, and so many more.

Dr. Rev. Boatic has not paid for so long that some people are now financially destitute. Their future will be soiled by Dr. Rev. Bostic gross disregard of the people he claimed he was capable of helping through honesty and credibility. Instead, Bostic as brought evil to a community striving to better themselves among those who who intend to hold them back.

The Nepperhan Community Center must kick Dr. Rev. Jim Bostic to the curb and align itself with its mission statement for NCC and the people it welcomes to strive for excellence with renewed interest to pay those it employs for services rendered.

Will the District Attorney Janet DiFiore Office look into Dr. Rev. Bostic’s conduct? Is this a job for the U.S. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office, or U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office? Will the New York State Department of Labor set him straight before they advise him to depart? Who will end the reign of Dr. Rev. Bostic’s scam and deceit from continuing unabated in Yonkers?

Page 24

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN

THURSDAY, May 23, 2013

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