PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. V No. VIII
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
White Plains Mayor
Adam Bradley
Resigns
Thursday, February 24, 2011
AG to FEDS
Pg 6
An
Alternative Budget?
Pg 8
Albany
Correspondent
Pg 9
Sounds of Blue
Pg 13
A Church Burns
Pg 15
At 5:00 P.M. on Friday, February 18th,
Adam Bradley announced his resignation
as Mayor of the City of White Plains.
Compulsion
Pg 16
Telluride
Pg 17
See full story on page 7
Selwyn Days
Pg 18
westchesterguardian.com
Page 2
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
The Hezitorial by Hezi Aris
Of Significance
Hezitorial......................................................................................2
Business........................................................................................3
Community..................................................................................4
Crime............................................................................................5
Environment.................................................................................6
Government.................................................................................7
Labor..........................................................................................11
Letters.........................................................................................12
Music..........................................................................................13
Politics.........................................................................................14
Shifting Gears............................................................................15
Showprep....................................................................................15
Spoof...........................................................................................15
Theatre........................................................................................16
Travel..........................................................................................17
Truth and Justice........................................................................18
Legal Notices..............................................................................19
Yonkers Inspector General Schorr and the Yonkers
Board of Ethics Aid and Abet in Theft of Services
Rendered by Yonkers Parking Authority to Yonkers
City Majority Leader McDow
The Honorable Joseph Nocca, Chairman
of the Yonkers Board of Ethics conducted the
February 17, 2011 meeting via a telephone
conference connection before a full board
membership shy one. Here is the link to the
agenda: http://foilyonkers.blogspot.com/. Four
members of the Yonkers Corporation Counsel,
including Mssrs Blanchard and Dunphy where
in attendance. The big guns were in attendance
to weigh in upon Inspector General Dan
Schorr’s referral to the Yonkers Ethics Board
of the non-payment for services rendered by
the Yonkers Parking Authority for the benefit
of Yonkers City Council Majority Leader
Patricia McDow’s parking of her BMW sedan
without payment.
I.G. Schorr stipulated the years over which
non-payment for storage of the BMW sedan
took place was for only three years. How Mr
Schorr could infer such a fact is absurd. The
vehicle was parked at the Buena Vista Parking
Lot for over six years. This is deduced by the fact
that the car had an expired inspection sticker
that was out of date for over six years. Further
still, the vehicle had no license plates screwed
into its body. Any vehicle in such condition
would have been ticketed, and eventually towed
out of the facility at the owner’s expense. One
must ask who advised the Yonkers Parking
Violations Bureau not to ticket her vehicle.
The Honorable Nocca railed at the public
notice the telling of McDow’s theft of service
in the media. Hon. Nocca spoke to its being
divulged in newspaper and its mention on
radio. The first telling was in virtual print in the
Yonkers Tribune, and on radio on the On the
Level with Narog and Aris heard on WVOX1460 AM. Judge Nocca was not as incensed
by the theft of services. (Reference - The
Hezitorial: The Price of Seduction By Hezi Aris,
first printed September 25, 2010.)
When I.G Schorr referred the issue to the
Yonkers Board of Ethics on January 21, 2011,
he offered that Ms McDow’s vehicle was parked
RADIO
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Guardian News Corp.
P.O. Box 8
New Rochelle, New York 10801
Sam Zherka , Publisher & President
publisher@westchesterguardian.com
Hezi Aris, Editor-in-Chief & Vice President
whyteditor@gmail.com
Advertising: (914) 632-2540
News and Photos: (914) 632-2540
Fax: (914) 633-0806
Published online every Monday
Print edition distributed Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
Graphic Design: Watterson Studios, Inc.
wattersonstudios.com
westchesterguardian.com
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins On the Level with
Narog and Aris
New Rochelle, NY -- New York State senator Andrea StewartCousins is Richard Narog’s and Hezi Aris’ guest this Tuesday, February
22nd, from 10 - 11 a.m., on WVOX-1460 AM on your radio dial and
worldwide on www.WVOX.com.
New York State Assemblyman Steve Katz is our guest on March
1st, and Assemblyman Mike Spano is our guest on March 8th. Bronxville Mayor Mary C. Marvin
and Bronxville Village Manager Harold Porr III are our guests later in the month.
Listeners and readers are invited to send a question to WHYTeditor@gmail.com for possible
use prior to any shows’ airing and even during the course of an interview.
Wednesday mornings at 8:37 am when he and Bob Marrone discuss issues on the Good
Morning Westchester radio program hosted by Bob Marrone.
Mea Culpa, By Hezi Aris
An error was recognized to have been overlooked in the February 17, 2011, Op-Ed column,
entitled Putnam County Term Limits Law By Anthony S. Fusco. In the 7th paragraph, it was
stated, “The Legislative Chairman has also been known to dissuade freshman legislators for
proposing new legislation by heaping criticisms and revisions on their intended laws, yet giving
no assistance in the actual drafting as is the purpose of his position.” It was intended to read, “The
Legislative Counsel….”
I sincerely apologize for any confusion and / or misunderstanding this error may have caused.
Hezi Aris is the editor of The Westchester Guardian.
The Westchester Guardian
THE HEZITORIAL
at the Buena Vista Parking Facility for
three years. Was IG Schorr attempting to
diminish the value of the theft of services
stolen to a lower figure by the very nature
of the length of time the automobile was
“stored” so as to avoid a civil case against
Majority leader McDow that would be
based upon the theft of services tallying a
greater sum? New York State Penal Law
requires different elements of proof in
a criminal case than in a civil case. The
threshold for proving a criminal case may
be too great to prove, but a civil case is
a logical avenue to be pursued. The issue
is evidently to great for Inspector General
Schorr to ascertain.
This reporter knows of those who
use the YPA facility at the Buena Vista
Parking lot who pay approximately $75
per month on a yearly basis since the
opening of the facility. Using that figure,
Ms McDow is liable to pay the YPA for
services rendered for storing her BMW at
the very least, that is for three years, the
sum of $2,700.00. If the sum is totaled for
6 years, the value of the theft of wervices
is equal to $5,400.00. I lawyer may best
advise Yonkers Majority Leader Patricia
McDow whether the penalties under
NYS Penal Law are greater the higher the
value of the theft of services rendered.
The Hon. Nocca had the audacity to
prejudice the case by pointing out that as
far as he is concerned, ownership of the
BMW is in question. He contends there
is no proof to that end. he is mistaken
on that count among others. The YPA
contends the vehicle was removed from
the Buena Vista Parking Lot in December
at the behest of Ms McDow. The Hon.
Nocca will have to spin another tale.
This writer is offended the executive
session predicted to take place behind
closed doors to media, and at which
the stenographer is also not present,
“spin” was offered by the Hon. Nocca.
It may behoove the entire Yonkers
Board of Ethics to quickly disband if a
credible resolution to Majority Leader
Patricia McDow’s conducted is not fully
addressed. Further the Yonkers Board of
Ethics must demand IG Schorr delineate
how he defined the theft of services to
have lasted only for the duration of three
years and not over six years.
This whole issue will be whitewashed to save the vote controlled by the
Majority Leader who is term-limited. For
all the years she has represented the 1st
District, the votes she cast on the Yonkers
City Council on issues before the Yonkers
City Council are suspect. Was there a
quid pro quo?
The inference is as clear as the Florida
sunshine; Yonkers Inspector General
Schorr and the Yonkers Board of Ethics
are engaged in aiding and abetting
Majority Leader Patricia McDow not to
pay for services rendered for the storage
of her BMW at the Yonkers Parking
Authority.
The People will judge, no matter the
spin.
Hezi Aris is the publisher / editor of the
Yonkers Tribune and The editor of The
Westchester Guardian.
BUSINESS
Grand Re-opening of McDonald’s in Bedford Hills
Bedford Hills, NY -- Assemblyman
Robert J. Castelli (R, C – Golden’s
Bridge) was on hand for the ribbon
cutting at the grand re-opening of the
McDonald’s Restaurant in Bedford Hills
on February 10, 2011. He was joined
by County Legislator Peter Harckham,
Bedford Town Supervisor Lee Roberts,
and Bryan Colley, the owner of the Colley
Group which operates the McDonald’s in
Bedford Hills.
“I am always thrilled to see our citizens
make a re-investment in our community,”
Castelli said. “The commitment
Continued on page 4
(L-R): Ronald McDonald, Bryan Colley of the
Colley Group and Assemblyman Castelli during
the presentation of the $5,000 check to Ronald
McDonald House on February 11th, 2011.
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 3
Page 4
The Westchester Guardian
THE HEZITORIAL
COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2010
Grand
Re-opening of McDonald’s in Bedford Hills
Continued from page 3
to revitalize the McDonald’s on Route
117 in Bedford represents Mr. Colley’s
commitment to keep our community
economically vital.”
During the re-opening ceremony,
Colley presented a $500 donation to
the Boy Scouts of America Troop of
the Hudson Valley. Following a tour
of the newly renovated restaurant with
Assemblyman Castelli, he then presented
a $5,000 check to Ronald McDonald
House by the Maria Fareri Children’s
Hospital in Valhalla.
“The generous contribution to the
Ronald McDonald House represents
Mr. Colley’s and McDonald’s of Bedford
Hills’ commitment to provide assistance
to our Westchester families in times of
crisis,” Castelli said. “I applaud Mr. Colley
for his generous donation to the Ronald
McDonald House and to our local boy
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
News & Notes from Northern Westchester
By Mark Jeffers
(L-R) : Bryan Colley of the Colley Group,
Ronald McDonald, Bedford Town Supervisor
Lee Roberts, Assemblyman Robert Castelli,
County Legislator Peter Harckham and
Eugene Colley of the Colley Group cut the
ribbon at the grand re-opening ceremony of
McDonald’s Restaurant on Route 117 in
Bedford Hills on February 10th, 2011.
scouts and wish him well in his commitment to continue the revitalization of our
community.”
Mission Statement
The Westchester Guardian is a weekly newspaper devoted to the unbiased reporting of events and developments
that are newsworthy and significant to readers living in,
and/or employed in, Westchester County. The Guardian
will strive to report fairly, and objectively, reliable information without favor or compromise. Our first duty will be
to the PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO KNOW, by the exposure
of truth, without fear or hesitation, no matter where the
pursuit may lead, in the finest tradition of FREEDOM OF
THE PRESS.
The Guardian will cover news and events relevant to
residents and businesses all over Westchester County. As a
weekly, rather than focusing on the immediacy of delivery
more associated with daily journals, we will instead seek to
provide the broader, more comprehensive, chronological step-by-step accounting of events, enlightened with analysis, where appropriate.
From amongst journalism’s classic key-words: who, what, when, where,
why, and how, the why and how will drive our pursuit. We will use our more
abundant time, and our resources, to get past the initial ‘spin’ and ‘damage
control’ often characteristic of immediate news releases, to reach the very
heart of the matter: the truth. We will take our readers to a point of understanding and insight which cannot be obtained elsewhere.
To succeed, we must recognize from the outset that bigger is not necessarily better. And, furthermore, we will acknowledge that we cannot be all
things to all readers. We must carefully balance the presentation of relevant,
hard-hitting, Westchester news and commentary, with features and columns
useful in daily living and employment in, and around, the county. We must
stay trim and flexible if we are to succeed.
A
big
question
swirling around the area
lately is just where exactly
does Governor Andrew
Cuomo live? Some say
Mount Kisco, officially he resides in New
Castle. Does it really matter as long as he
pays taxes to both governments... for that
matter, he can live in Bedford and help
me pay my taxes…
The Katonah Pharmacy, along with
other local businesses, are collecting
much needed supplies in support of our
troops stationed in Afghanistan. They are
looking for some of the following items:
hand warmers, dry soup packets, soap,
toothpaste, shampoo, gum, snacks and
sunscreen. This is a wonderful project for
the whole family to get involved in.
Cool things (and I’m not referring to
the snow) are happening at the Trailside
Nature Museum (Routes 121 and 35).
They have trails for hiking. After your
hike on February 26th, stop in and learn
how American Indians developed the
process of making maple syrup. “American
Indians Sugaring,” sounds sweet to me…
This story warmed my heart and my
stomach…Panera Bread in Bedford Hills
recently donated gloves and hats for children during their annual hat drive. In
exchange for a donation, patrons received
a free cup of delicious hot soup. The event
was held in conjunction with Big Brothers
Big Sisters Family Services of Westchester.
Our friends at the Junior League of
Northern Westchester will be holding
their 5th annual “Around the World in
80 Wines Gala” on Friday April 8th at
the Brynwood Golf & Country Club in
Armonk. For more information give them
a call at 914-234-4714, I think my wife is
calling them now…
And speaking of wines, did you know
that our buddy Pete Costello at Hilltop
Wines & Spirits in Chappaqua has wine
tasting almost every Saturday? Give Pete
a call, or better yet, stop by to find out
when the next great wine event will be
held, 914-238-8422.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians,
Division 16, have announced that the
21st annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade
will be held on Saturday, March 12, at
1:00 p.m., along Main Street in Mount
Kisco. The Jeffers family are big fans of
the parade and my daughters have all
marched in the past. This year’s Grand
Marshall is Mount Kisco Village Trustee
George Griffin.
In library notes…The Bedford Hills
Free Library, (not to be confused with
The Bedford Hills “expensive” Library) is
holding its on-going book sale in the front
entryway. Good books at great prices, stop
by and check it out…
And good news, the Mount Kisco
Public Library has reopened after a burst
water pipe caused some water damage to
some of their rooms.
As you can probably tell, simple to
me is best…well, the Children’s Learning
Center at the Katonah Museum of Art
has a very nice collection called “The Dot
and Ish,” which are simple illustrations;
sounds like a great exhibit to visit over the
winter break. Call the museum for more
information 914-232-9555.
While the ice and snow are still with
us in the streets, spring has sprung at
The Preppy Turtle in Bedford Hills 914
666-8500. This savvy consignment store
for kids of all ages has set aside the drab
grays and browns of winter for the sunny
yellows, pinks and greens of spring for
your wardrobe. With prices sky rocketing
around us, fashion friendly bargains can be
found at this environmentally conscience
store. I suggest an Eco friendly day…
take the train to Bedford Hills; shop at
the Preppy Turtle then walk around the
corner to Table and grab a great cup of
Fair Trade coffee while sampling some of
the store’s delicious organic and locally
grown treats.
When doing 3 sit-ups a day just
isn’t enough, I recently stopped by this
really neat place at Radio Circle in
Mount Kisco… The Kombine Sports
Performance & Fitness Center offers
a variety of fitness & sports-specific
programs for all ages, even someone as old
as I… Their certified training staff did not
laugh when I walked in and they had an
ideal atmosphere for getting me into
Continued on page 5
The Westchester Guardian
COMMUNITY
News & Notes from
Northern Westchester
Continued from page 4
better shape. Now I just have to get back
over there…
Grand Prix New York, a state-of-theart indoor kart racing facility in Mount
Kisco, and Survive the Drive, a national
teen driver safety education program have
teamed up to help improve teen driver
safety through compelling presentations
at area high schools. For more information on Survive the Drive program
contact Bob Green at 860-435-1054.
Three cheers for the Byram Hills
cheerleading team for their second place
finish at the NCA Sunshine Classic in
Lakeland, Florida.
That will wrap it up for this edition of
“News & Notes.”
Mark Jeffers’ “News & Notes” column takes
a a look at the happenings in the northern
part of the county…
MfA_WG(9.324x4.9375)020911.indd 1
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 5
Crime
Unsolved Cold Case in Mount Pleasant
By Nancy King
On February 15, 2011, the Bethel
Baptist Church in conjunction with the
family of Larry Jamaal Warren held a
memorial service to celebrate the life of
their son. Larry was a 1999 graduate of
White Plains High School where he
was remembered as a standout basketball player who helped the team realize
their dream of a state championship.
At the time of his death, Mr. Warren
was a Program Director at the Andrus
Children’s Center in Yonkers, New York.
This man clearly was on the way to
making a difference in this world.
On February 15, 2003, Mr. Warren
attended a dance party at Tino’s Villa and
Italian Steakhouse in Hawthorne, New
York. These dance parties were popular in
the early 2000’s. They were a quick way
for restaurants to make some fast dollars
on the weekend. They were scheduled
by the time the normal diners were long
gone and nothing spells money more
than alcohol on the weekend. For Tino’s,
a restaurant that is out of the way, even
though it is just a half a mile north of an
exit on the Saw Mill Parkway, weekend
dance parties often are the difference in
whether you stay open or go out of business. This party was to be no different.
However, at approximately 2:30
on the morning of February 15, 2003,
things at the party went terribly wrong.
According to reports, there were verbal
confrontations between two groups of
partygoers going on inside the restaurant. It was suggested that the dissenting
parties “take it outside.” So they took it
outside and things got exponentially
worse in the ensuing minutes. No one
can really explain what this argument
was about but the end result involved a
gunfight. It was in this gunfight, that
Larry Jamaal Warren was shot and killed.
As tragic as this event may have been,
what has been even more tragic in the
years since this killing has been the lack
of cooperation by the witnesses in this
case. According to the Mount Pleasant
Police Department, all of those who have
been interviewed concerning this case
have refused to cooperate with the investigation. Not one single person has been
forthright with the police; nor has anyone
come forward with any tips concerning
this case. And yet, when you ask around,
everyone remembers this case.
In asking those who remember the
case, what this was all about, everyone
has a different theory. Of course drugs
were mentioned, but Larry Warren wasn’t
known to be even a casual drug user. He
was an athlete who had made a career of
helping children. Others speculated that
it was a fight over a girl. Overwhelmingly
however, most people The Westchester
Guardian spoke to do not remember
the incident,only the party itself.
Overwhelmingly they all remember it as
being a gay event. Is that the reason that
no one has come forward or has cooperated with the investigation? Yes,
Continued on page 6
2/9/11 11:18 AM
Page 6
The Westchester Guardian
CRIME
Unsolved Cold Case in
Mount Pleasant
Continued from page 5
that is probably the most logical reason.
No one wants to admit that they were at
a gay event.
So, what we are left with, is a family
that may never get the closure needed
to move forward. What if it were a
gay event? Nobody cares. That’s right,
nobody cares what your sexual preference
is. What the public wants is for those
in attendance that night to step up to
the plate and tell the truth. What really
happened? Why haven’t the “witnesses”
been able to cooperate with the investigations? Is it embarrassment or is it pride?
Bottom line, it is cowardly. The gift of
truth that you will give to a family will
far outweigh any embarrassment that you
will ever experience. The Mount Pleasant
Police Department have promised that
any information given will remain confidential and anonymous.
This time next year, we hope that we
will be celebrating the life of Larry Jamaal
Warren with the questions about his
murder answered.
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
ENVIRONMENT
AG to FEDS – Stop Toxic Nuke Dump at Indian Point
By Abby Luby
Buchanan, New York
-- 1500 tons of high-level
radioactive waste stored at
Indian Point could not only
pose a serious threat to the public, but may
be there illegally. Last week New York State
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed
a formal lawsuit challenging the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) ruling
that permits Indian Point, and 100 other
nuclear power plants across the country,
to store spent radioactive fuel next to their
respective reactors 60 years after the plants
closure. If the Buchanan-based plant
remains in operation for another 20 years,
the waste could remain on site well into the
22nd century.
At last week’s press conference in White
Plains, Schneiderman attacked the NRC for
allowing nuclear waste to be stored without
studying the environmental impacts.
“Our communities deserve a thorough
review of the environmental, public health,
and safety risks such a move would present.
This is not just a safety and environmental
issue, but also one that could affect property values in Westchester.” The
lawsuit, filed in federal court
in Washington D.C., claims
the NRC violated federal laws
requiring reviews of health,
safety and environmental
threats.
30 tons of enriched
uranium radioactive waste is
produced at Indian Point every
18 months. The spent fuel is
stored in 40-foot deep pools
that currently stores 1,000 tons
at each of the two reactor pools.
Older waste is stored in 15 dry
storage casks that stand on an
open tarmac surrounded by
barbed wire and one surveillance tower.
In December, 2010, the
NRC changed their “Waste
Confident Rule,” extending the
30 year limit for on-site storage
of radioactive waste to 60 years.
Responding to Schneiderman’s
lawsuit the NRC issued a statement that said the rule was
legally sound and safety issues
had been evaluated.
Dry casks stored at Indian Point overlooking the Hudson River in Buchanan, New York.
“The NRC has carried out numerous
studies on the safety of storing spent
nuclear fuel at U.S. power reactor sites.
These include a complete re-examination
of spent fuel pool safety and security issues
following the 9/11 attacks.”
In an interview prior to Schneiderman’s
announcement, NRC spokesperson Neil
Sheehan said the commission was sure
that a “geologic repository capacity will
be available to dispose of the commercial
high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel
generated in any reactor when necessary.”
Sheehan referenced an article in
Energy Daily that said Carlsbad, New
Mexico, was interested in developing a
repository. Until a repository is devised,
Sheehan said a plan was also underway to
allow high-level waste to be stored on site
at all 100 plants for over 120 years.
David Lochbaum of the Union of
Concerned Scientists said the NRC’s plan
is flawed.
“The NRC has confidence that a
permanent disposal site will become available and that spent fuel can be safely and
securely stored on site until then. The fact
that NRC has had to re-affirm this decision at least twice seems to erode, rather
than reinforce, that confidence.”
Since 2002, the Department of
Energy (DoE) has spent about $9 billion
to open a permanent repository for spent
fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The
site was originally chosen by Congress
in 1987. Environmental groups have for
decades fought against the repository and
succeeded in stopping the project. In its
2012 budget, the Obama administration
omitted funding for the Yucca Mountain
repository. The DoE has but yet to find a
state willing to host the radioactive waste
for the country’s nuclear plants.
“The DoE’s inability to meet this challenge despite hard effort would seem to
thoroughly undermine NRC’s basis for
concluding that challenge might someday
be met,” said Lochbaum.
Joining Schneiderman in his lawsuit
are AG’s from Connecticut and Vermont.
Local Hudson Valley environmental
groups are also supporting the move.
Hudson
Riverkeeper
Executive
Director Paul Gallay said he applauded
the AG’s efforts “for challenging a decision by the NRC that defies science, logic
and common sense. We look forward to
working together to ensure that Indian
Point’s nuclear waste does not sit on the
banks of the Hudson River, wreaking
further havoc on our environment for
decades to come.”
Indian Point owner Entergy Nuclear
has applied to the NRC to renew their
operator’s licenses for Unit 2 and 3 which
respectively expire in 2013 and 2015. The
application has drawn an unprecedented
number of contentions. If the licenses are
renewed, Indian Point will operate for an
additional 20 years.
Abby Luby is a Westchester based, freelance
journalist who writes about current, local
news, environmental issues, art entertainment and food.
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 7
GOVERNMENT
White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley Resigns
By Nancy King
At 5:00 P.M. on Friday, February
18th, Adam Bradley announced his
resignation as Mayor of the City of
White Plains. His declaration closed
the chapter on Bradley’s tumultuous
tenure as mayor. Endorsed by all major
political parties, Adam Bradley was a
rising political star until February 2010
when his wife alleged Mayor Bradley
had committed domestic violence upon
her. The drama that played out for nearly
a year culminated in December when
Bradley was indeed found guilty of some
of the domestic abuse charges. On top of
that, Mayor Bradley was facing charges
by the White Plains Ethics Board for
moving into an apartment owned by a
developer who was seeking an opportunity to do business in White Plains.
To be sure, during a lengthy trial, Mr.
Bradley was taken away from the daily
business of governing White Plains and
had left the city in the hands of John
Callahan. Interestingly enough, despite
the mayor being absent from City Hall
during the length of his trial, the city was
MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN GOVERNMENT
Natural Study of Village Features
By Mary C. Marvin
The
Bronxville
Historical Conservancy,
with the Village’s encouragement and gratitude,
commissioned
two
Landscape Architect degree students
from City College to undertake a study/
review of the natural features of the
Village and other municipal resources
such as street trees and soil types found
throughout our Village. The report they
complied will aid in any future design
and development decisions made by the
Village. The students worked under the
direction of Peter Gisolfi, a Bronxville
Historical Conservancy board member
and principal of Peter Gisolfi Associates,
a Westchester County based architectural firm. The concept for the study
at the Conservancy Board level was
spearheaded by former Mayor Nancy
Hand, who knew firsthand the value of
an up-to-date record of Village natural
features and inventory. The Trustees and
I are most appreciative of this collaboration and thank the Conservancy for their
continued vision as we work together to
preserve and enhance our Village.
The report in its entirety may be
viewed on the Conservancy’s website
(http:/www.bronxvillehistoricalconservancy.org). The following are examples
of the type of information gleaned and
how it will be useful to the Village going
forward.
The report illustrates the soil
types, elevation and drainage patterns
throughout the Village. This information
will aid in future flood mitigation initiatives as well as assist both homeowners
and municipal officials in the planting of
proper vegetation throughout the Village,
increasing the lifespan of trees and plants,
adding lushness to the Village and ultimately saving money by planting the
appropriate vegetation.
The Village has asked the
Conservancy to further expand on their
report in the coming months to address
certain additional needs of the Village.
We would benefit from a comprehensive
mapping of the municipal or street trees
in the Village along our major thoroughfares. This data would aid in determining
the location, age, health and specimen
type and facilitate a more coordinated,
pruning, fertilization and diseased tree
removal program. In addition, a similar
inventory of street light locations would
aid in tracking the life of bulbs at different
locations and provide a blueprint for the
eventual conversion to a more energy efficient lighting plan. The Village has also
requested that the volunteer graduate
students help us produce a user friendly
guide matching our different neighborhoods to a list of plants and trees that
would grow best in the different soil types.
This would be an invaluable tool for
Continued on page 8
able to move forward with the
Metroplex Center being approved
and tenants found for the empty
Fortunoff space. Thank goodness
for municipal infrastructure; if it
were not for that, White Plains
or any other municipality for that
matter would forever get stuck in
reverse.
So what happens next?
Common Council President Tom
Roach, who was narrowly defeated
by Bob Castelli in the 89th
Assembly District race, will take
over as Mayor pf White Plains at
Midnight, February 19th. This
clears the way for a special election to be held within 60 days to
fill the position of mayor. It does Former Mayor of the City of White Plains, Adam Bradley
indeed seem as if Westchester
the recordings from my telephone, the
County is becoming the capital
talk would center on whether to take the
of special elections! Will Tom Roach
dog to the park for a walk to the park or to
become a more permanent mayor or is
the suoermarket. If however these rumors
Bill Ryan waiting in the wings to make
are indeed true, they further cement the
a run for it. Only time will tell. Roach
theory that the fix was indeed in and that
stated he received a call summoning him
he had to be “taken down” by any means
to City Hall early this afternoon. Upon
necessary.
his arrival he was apprised of Mayor
So what is in store for Adam Bradley
Bradley’s decision and his imminent
now? According to Mr. Bradley, he can
thrust into office as mayor. Mr. Roach
now devote his time to clearing his name.
was gracious in his acceptance of the task
Others feel that Mr. Bradley stepped
at hand and Mr. Bradley stated that he
down from office because he may be
would help with the transition.
sentenced to jail time at his sentencing
The drama of the day could not still
on March 17th. All of this is pure specuthe many questions that linger concerning
lation and will reveal itself soon enough.
this case. It would be amazing to find
I feel sincerely sorry for the citizens
out the definitive reasons for so many
of White Plains. They have had their
witnesses being suppressed from testicity thrust into the kind of spotlight that
fying in this case. That alone makes one
no one in their right mind seek. They’ve
wonder if the testimony, were it to have
been denied a full time leader and have
been allowed, would have changed the
been the butt of some really bad wifefinal outcome. One also must wonder
beater jokes. Their suffering isn’t even
who engineered this runaway train? We
close to ending either. These poor folks
can all speculate as to whom but I doubt
will now have to live through an interim
we will learn the truth of the entire story.
mayor, a special election and musical
What makes this story so sensaCommon Council seats. Who will ultitional has been the sordid drama that has
mately end up as the Mayor of White
accompanied it from the beginning. Even
Plains is anybody’s guess at this point.
tonight, there were rumors circulating
To the ultimate winner in this game
that there were a half a dozen phones
of survivor, to outwit and outplay wont
that had been wiretapped in an effort to
be the mantra of the players; it will be
implicate Mr. Bradley further. One of
infrastructure.
those phones is that of this reporter. Just
imagine, after reading the transcripts of
Page 8
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
GOVERNMENT
Mayor Marvin: Natural Study of Village Features
Continued from page 7
homeowners as they landscape property as
well as the Village in choosing appropriate
and long lasting vegetation.
On a parallel front, the Village has put
together an internal committee, chaired by
Village Engineer, Vince Pici, to implement
geographic information system (GIS)
technology in Village Hall to further assist
in the pinpointing of our natural resources
and managing our infrastructure.
One of our goals is to map the subterranean sewer network including all the
manholes, catch basins and mains in both
the storm drainage and sanitary sewer
systems. This sub-surface mapping would
aid in the repair and replacement of pipes
and pinpoint leaks and breaks much more
efficiently. At present, there are almost no
maps indicating the location of sanitary
sewer lines running throughout the Village
underground.
Our ultimate goal is to develop a
customized GIS system that would incorporate all the data that presently exists via
the County GIS data with other Village
specific information compiled through
our on-going efforts. Data available would
include all GIS maps including Village
surface and subterranean views as well as
County and State GIS property mapping.
As a result of our recent revaluation
work, we now have data on all real estate
parcels in the Village. With GIS, residents
will be able to search by parcel identifier
or street address and see property photos,
property cards and sales data via an
interactive map as well as tree, drain and
hydrant locations. Eventually we intend
to provide a user friendly computer kiosk
at Village Hall and the Village library for
easy access of this critical information by
Village residents.
Of course, most of the above data
collection and collation comes with a
price. As a consequence, we plan on rolling
out the system in stages while simultaneously applying for grant monies available
for these types of projects. We will also
incorporate information currently available from the County GIS database as we
progress.
Some communities have already
implemented this system providing residents and staffers with vital information
that has ultimately saved both time and
money for everyone needing to access this
type of information.
Last week, the Board of Trustees
approved Village participation in a 15
community grant that will digitally map
all of the Village storm drains and catch
basins. The only charge to the Village for
this effort will be the time and expertise
of our Public Works Superintendent,
Rocco Circosta, who helped secure the
grant. We will continue to look for other
grant opportunities to help supplement
the Village investments in a full and openended GIS system.
Mary C. Marvin is the Mayor of the Village
of Bronxville, New York.
THE PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
There is No Such Thing as an ‘Alternative Budget’!
By Karen Watts
For over a month, the
concerns of the Mayor
Clinton Young, Jr., on
the issue of the Mount
Vernon City budget have
been placed on the front page of the city’s
Website, and in the newspaper, Mount
Vernon Today (which has been alleged to be
his vehicle for information distribution).
Under the guise of transparency, a
picture has been painted that some might
say is a mosaic rendering.
Mayor Young’s message contains a
reading of the City Charter which is not only
inconsistent with the Charter but is inconsistent with the Mayor and Corporation
Counsel’s previous reading and application of Charter provisions. Unfortunately, I
believe the Mayor is not receiving accurate
advice.
As early as November 22, 2010, the
City’s Comptroller advised the Mayor that
his budget estimate, which had been delivered in November rather than September, as
called for in the City Charter, significantly
underestimated expenses and significantly
overestimated revenue. That flawed estimate carried with it an increase in the tax
rate of 5.54%.
The City’s Board of Estimate and
Contract held a public hearing on the
Mayor’s estimate and made modifications to correct those errors and reduce the
amount of the tax increase. Due to the fact
that the Mayor’s estimate had been delivered two months late, there was little time
to thoroughly review the Board of Estimate
and Contract’s changes, which later revealed
some clerical errors.
After receiving the budget estimate
from the Board of Estimate and Contract,
the City Council held a public hearing on
that budget estimate. During the course
of this public hearing, it was brought to
our attention that certain items, including
several positions, had been left out of the
budget estimate. As a result of this input
from the public and our further review of
the estimate it was clear that, in fact, certain
positions had been inadvertently left out of
the estimate as a result of additional clerical
errors.
As has always been the practice of the
City, and based upon previous advice of the
Corporation Counsel’s office, it was our
understanding that the City Council could
not add positions back into the estimate
without action of the Board of Estimate
and Contract. As a result, the Board of
Estimate and Contract met and made these
corrections.
The City Council, then adopted the
corrected estimate which reflected both the
original intention of the Board of Estimate
and Contract in its revision of the Mayor’s
estimate, the comments made by the public
at our hearing, and the correction of the
clerical errors.
Therefore, the statements that the
budget approved by the City Council was
not the result of a public hearing process is
erroneous and ignores the fact that the final
changes made were a result of the direct
input of both the public and the Mayor.
I believe the adopted budget, inclusive
of the override of the Mayor’s veto is consistent with both the letter and the spirit of
the budget process as outlined by the City
Charter. It is also consistent with past practice followed by this Council, the current
and past Mayors and past advice provided
by the current and past members of the
Corporation Counsel’s Office.
This budget adds back positions that
the Mayor himself requested be added and
which we all acknowledge were inadvertently left out through a clerical error. We
have been able to accomplish this without
modifying the tax rate fixed by the Board
of Estimate and Contract in the estimate
it originally issued after public hearing.
This further demonstrates that this budget
reflects the original intent of the Board
of Estimate and Contract and that the
changes subsequently made to add back
the positions inadvertently excluded, were
in fact to correct clerical errors. The annual
estimate is 4.49%
Further, I believe that the vote to
reduce the Inspector General’s salary
does not violate any prior directive of the
courts. The Charter, section 69, specifically
provides that the Board of Estimate and
Contract shall fix the Inspector General’s
annual salary. As part of the budget process
it is wholly appropriate for the Board of
Estimate and Contract to fix the Inspector
General’s annual salary in accordance with
the specific authority granted by the City
Charter. I understand that there is significant evidence that the current Inspector
General neither works full time nor has
produced any substantive reports in the last
year. While I agree it is important to root
out corruption and malfeasance in government, I also believe that public employees
should receive salaries that are consistent
with the level of work they perform. To
pay someone in excess of $100,000 per year
for what is essentially a part time job does
as much to undermine the public’s faith in
government as at least some of the other
activities the Inspector General is supposed
to be combating.
In all other respects the budget that
will be adopted through this override of the
Mayor’s veto provides for levels of service
consistent with the level of funding available
to the City and without cutting essential
services or overburdening our taxpayers
in these difficult times. The estimate I am
voting for, unlike the Mayor’s estimate, has
been prepared with input from the City
Comptroller who, as the City’s chief financial officer, is in the best position to fully
evaluate the appropriate levels of revenues
and expenses in developing the final budget
estimate for the City.
There continues to be made statements that refer to a tax increase of 1.82%.
Nothing outlining this estimate was ever
presented to the City Council or the public
for a mandated hearing. Nothing – ever!
I remain hopeful we can move forward
with our respective positions and work
together to make Mount Vernon a better
place for us all to live and work.
Karen Watts is Mount Vernon City Council
President.
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 9
GOVERNMENT
Redistricting, Lulus, and Reactions
By Carlos Gonzalez
It was a fun-filled week
at the New York State
Capitol with no shortage
of news, mixed with a little
bit of controversy, of course.
First, Governor Andrew Cuomo
launched an effort to make nonpartisan redistricting reform a reality by
announcing the Redistricting Reform
Act of 2011, a bill that would establish a
nonpartisan commission to redraw state
and congressional district lines and end
gerrymandering tactics.
Requirements for service on this
commission include being at least four
years removed from being a member of
the Legislature or Congress, a legislative
or executive chamber employee, a political
party official, or a registered lobbyist.
“Redistricting in New York is a
system
that
has prioritized
incumbency
and
partisan
interests over
democratic
representation,”
said Governor
Cuomo. “This
process needs
to be about the
people and not
the
politics. Governor Andrew Cuomo
The bill ensures
greater independence, transparency, and
a commitment to fair representation and
equality.”
The program bill is a major victory
for New York Uprising, a non-partisan
and independent coalition of advocates
formed by former NYC Mayor Edward
Koch , who spent the 2010 election-year
collecting pledges from candidates for
office committing themselves to support
independent redistricting, responsible
budgeting, and ethics reform.
Koch said, “I am pleased that Governor
Cuomo is upholding his promise to institute comprehensive redistricting reform,
and I expect every lawmaker who signed
the NY Uprising pledge to do the same.”
With the exception of the
GOP-controlled
Senate,
everyone
with a vote that allowed
the Republicans to change
the rules of the Senate
and circumvent the State
Constitution to strip
Lieutenant
Governor
Robert Duffy, a Democrat,
of his ability to cast a tie
breaking vote in the event
that the Senate is tied,”
wrote Krueger.
appears to be on board in support of the
bill.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
indicated, “We are reviewing Governor
Cuomo’s program bill and we remain
committed to working with the governor
and our colleagues in the Senate to reform
redistricting in time for the upcoming
redistricting process.”
“The moment for change has arrived;
and the time has come for pledges
made to become promises kept,” said
Senate Minority Leader John Sampson.
“Governor Cuomo has introduced legislation that keeps his commitment to
reform, and I am calling on the Senate to
do the same by immediately passing his
legislation when we return to Albany.”
The Republican response to Governor
Cuomo’s program bill, however, was a bit
more problematic indicating they have no
interest approaching the subject until the
state budget is complete.
“Cutting government spending,
reducing taxes, providing property tax
relief and creating private sector jobs are
critically important issues that impact
every family and business in this state,
said Senate Majority Leader Dean
Skelos. “That’s why our focus right now
must be on getting a fiscally responsible
budget enacted by April 1st, which is just
43 days away.”
Senate Republican insiders indicated internal resistance toward honoring
Cuomo’s bill, and efforts are underway
to search for flaws. This is a serious
situation because 32 members of the
Repulican majority signed Koch’s NY
Uprising pledge placing Republicans in a
vulnerable position. It also demonstrates
a masterful and brilliant strategy by Ed
Koch who most likely has Republican
pledge signers boxed in.
In other news, Senator Liz Krueger
(D-Manhattan) released a scathing op-ed
and introduced legislation (S2780) calling
for an end of lawmaker stipends, known
as “lulus.” Stipends are given to legislators who hold leadership positions, chair
committees, or even serve as minorityparty members of committees. Senator
Krueger believes stipends cause members
to sell their power and votes to party
leadership.
In one portion of the op-ed, Senator
Krueger suggested that four members
of the newly formed Independent
Democratic Conference (IDC) led
by Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx,
Westchester) were given lulus as high as
$12,500 and immediately began voting in
lockstep with Republicans.
“The most egregious instance came
The IDC responded
quickly through Senator
Diane Savino (D-Staten
Island) who stated, “I
have the utmost respect
for Senator Krueger, but
her spiel against the IDC is intellectually
dishonest. If more money was a motivating factor, we would have stayed quiet,
ignored the dysfunction and stayed in the
Democratic Conference, where most of
us would have actually received bigger
stipends from leadership posts.”
It should be noted that lulus cost
state taxpayers a whopping $2.5 million
a year, and Senator Krueger has been the
only senator not to accept a stipend. Also,
Congress currently bans the payment of
stipends for lawmakers.
When asked about the merits of
Senator Krueger’s bill, Senator Jeff Klein
responded through spokesperson Rich
Azzopardi saying,”Albany needs ethics
reform and we don’t need a piecemeal
approach, but we will review Krueger’s
legislation in the wider context of comprehensive and badly needed ethics reform.”
Regardless of what our lawmakers
positions are, I’m interested in your
thoughts. Feel free to email me at carlgonz1@gmail.com.
Carlos Gonzalez is The Westchester
Guardian’s Albany Correspondent.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Please submit your Letter to the Editor electronically, that is by
directing email to WHYTeditor@gmail.com Please confine your writing
to between 350 and 500 words. Your name, address, and telephone
contact is requested for verification purpose only. A Letter to the
Editor will be accepted at the editor’s discretion when space permits. A
maximum of one submission per month may be accepted.
Page 10
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
THE FEINER REPORT GOVERNMENT
Supermarkets in the News in Greenburgh
By Paul Feiner
Stop & Shop Welcomed
The
Greenburgh
Town Board approved an
exciting new supermarket
at our Town Board meeting on February
15th. A new Stop & Shop Supermarket
located on the border with Tarrytown,
approximately 58,735 sq. ft. large will
soon start being constructed. The supermarket is expected to be open in 2012.
The more competition—the better deals
offered to consumers!
A & P and Pathmark to Close
The A & P, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year, will close
32 stores, including four in the New York
City area. Among the stores to be closed
is the Pathmark supermarket on Central
Avenue, in Hartsdale. Town officials
will be working with the landlord of this
large space to attract a great new tenant.
This closing is sad—PATHMARK has
been around for many years (since my
childhood) and the prices were great. It’s
my hope that the landlord will replace
Pathmark with another supermarket.
However, the town has no control over
what a landlord does with their property. The A & P on Tarrytown Road Rte
119 is also closing. I am concerned that
the two supermarket closings will have
a negative impact on stores in the shopping plazas since the supermarkets were
the respective anchors. The town must
be proactive and send a strong message
to possible tenants that we’re a business
friendly community.
New ShopRite on Ardsley Road a Big
Success. A & P on Central Avenue
Also Offering Bargains.
The new ShopRite on Ardsley Road
and Central Avenue is a big success.
During the first few weeks the place
was packed with people. Now, the shopping experience is calmer. People realize
that the store is open from early in the
morning to 2:00 a.m.. The store, which
opened over a month ago, has some good
buys. A positive impact from Shoprite—
more bargains at the Scarsdale A & P, also
located on Central Ave. Price wars can
only help the consumer
Special Elections Should be
Conducted by Mail Ballot
The recent special election for
Westchester County Legislator in
Greenburgh resulted in the election of
Mary Jane Shimsky. Over 4,000 people
voted, yet there are about 60,000 residents
who live in a County Legislative election
district. The turnout was not great. I voted
at 9 AM ---I was only the 8th person to
vote in my district, three hours after the
polls opened out of 907 eligible voters.
I suggest New York State law be
amended to allow for elections by mail.
Voting by mail would be easier, turnout
should and would increase, and significant dollars would be saved because
there would be no need for election day
expenses. Voters can reflect on the ballot
at home in a less stressful environment.
Voter turnout increased in the state
of Oregon by as much as 40% because
people can vote by paper ballot. We could
save lots of money: no election inspectors and pollworkers, no extra paychecks,
no rentals of voting locations, no early
morning hours for election inspectors, no
election day set up problems, no confusion where people have to go to vote. No
need for absentee ballots.
My suggestion, New York should
provide voters with a two week period to
cast their ballot.
Paul Feiner is Greenburgh Town Supervisor.
Lesnick Politically Ambushes Fellow Yonkers Real Estate Committee Attendees
By Hezi Aris
Yonkers City Council
Majority Leader and Real
Estate Committee Chair
Patricia McDow (1st
District) presided over the
February 15th meeting attended by Real
Estate Committee Members Wilson
Terrero (2nd District), Chuck Lesnick
(Yonkers City Council President),
Minority Leader John Murtagh (5th
District, John Larkin (6th District), as
well as Joan Gronowski (3rd District)
and Dennis Shepherd (4th District) . The
Real Estate Committee was considering
a General Ordinance which if approved,
would permit amending Section 43-15 of
the Zoning Code of the City of Yonkers
(CoY) with regard to an exception in lots
in two or more districts or municipalities.
Specifically, the call for the adoption of
the General Ordinance spoke to a property owned by Linda Louise, LLC, whose
tenant Metro Green, engaged the services
of Matthew Smith, Esq., of the firm of
Smith, Buss & Jacobs, with which Mr
Lesnick has been in the passed affiliated,
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and may in some capacity still be associated. The tenant advises that the property
upon which he operates recycling operation which turns construction debris into
concrete, rock, and dirt for use as gravel.
The tenant advises he has operated on this
site for almost 2 years’ time and holds a 5
year lease with a first option to purchase.
The property in question straddles the
border with the City of Mount Vernon.
Ninety percent of the property is situated in CoY and ten percent in Mount
Vernon. The City of Mount Vernon has
designated the property for industrial
use; the City of Yonkers has designated
the property for commercial use. The
tenant should like CoY to approve use of
the property for industrial purposes. Mr
Lesnick did not admit to recognizing that
such an action would amount to “ spot
zoning.” Mr Murtagh recognized the
issue and recoiled from entertaining the
issue asserting the Yonkers City Council
was not the appropriate venue for remedy
of this issue and that standards of protocol
would need to be followed.
Wikipedia describes “spot zoning”
as the application of zoning to a specific
parcel of land within a larger zoned area
when the rezoning is usually at odds with
a city’s master plan and current zoning
restrictions. The rezoning may be for
the benefit of a particular owner, and at
odds with pre-existing adjacent property owners. The Standard State Zoning
Enabling Act states “all such regulations
shall be uniform for each class or kind
of building throughout each district.”[1]
Courts may rule certain instances of spot
zoning as illegal.The specific lot numbers
were not supplied.
A Mount Vernon map was afforded
the committee but was not verified by a
map authenticated by the City of Yonkers.
Mr Lesnick feigned an aloof stance
in arguing the merit of the tenant’s interests but maintained a steady argument
in attempting to arrive at a majority
consensus to move the request to next
week’s City Council Meeting.
Mr Murtagh, studying the map
distributed as back-up material with the
proposed item noted that the property
seemed to be situated within 500 feet of
a green trail which would thereby demand
Continued on page 11
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
Page 11
GOVERNMENT
Lesnick Politically Ambushes Fellow Yonkers Real Estate Committee Attendees
Continued from page 10
approval by both CoY and Westchester
County government.
Mr. Lesnick was found out by Mr
Murtagh omitting information which
whether he knew prior to its being
revealed or not in the back and forth
discourse should have known the issue.
Mr Lesnick is a lawyer with claimed
expertise in easement and other such
modalities related to real estate law,
No matter how removed Mr Lesnick’s
body language was in expressing disinterest in the preceding, Mr Lesnick
mentioned he had gotten verbal agreement from the City of Mount Vernon
that they were indeed amenable to
rezoning the property.
The language presented before the
Real Estate Committee did not stipulate
the lot number over which one must infer
the meeting was called. The inexactitude of the papers before the Real Estate
Committee could, if adopted, have lead to
an inadvertent rezoning of other property
not specified in this General Ordinance.
Not giving up attempting to shepherd the request through, Mr Lesnick
suggested it may be prudent to refer the
issue to Westchester County for advisement. Ms Gronowski was adamant in
promoting that Yonkers should define its
own interests and concerns before asking
for an opinion from the county.
Mr Lesnick was undeterred. Mr
Murtagh suggested the tenant bring his
request for a variance from the Yonkers
Zoning Board.
Ms Gronowski advised the tenant it
would be prudent for the property owner
to petition Yonkers and not him.
What became evident is that Mr
Lesnick conduct was an attempt to dupe
the Real Estate Committee to agree to
real estate and zoning issues they may
have not been knowledgeable. Were Ms
Gronowski’s dead on questions and Mr
Murtagh legal expertise not shared with
the Real Estate Committee, Mr Lesnick
could have hoodwinked to Real Estate
Committee to adopt a General Ordinance
that could have potentially hurt the City
of Yonkers.
Just as appalling is that Yonkers City
Council Democrat Counsel Christian
DiPalermo was deficient in comprehending the ploy or complicit with Mr
Lesnick’s conduct. One must ask what
the Yonkers taxpayer is paying for when
the Yonkers City Council Democrat
Counsel is inept in protecting Yonkersites
in his role as counsel to the Yonkers City
Council, or if he was in n the ploy?
Mr Lesnick’s passive / aggressive
attempt to hood-wink the Real Estate
Committee is potentially deleterious to
Yonkersites. It brings to question Mr
Lesnick ever being considered trustworthy to be maintained for present office,
much less considered for higher office.
Mr Lesnick’s conduct yesterday evening
has proven his susceptibility to prostitute himself for the client of an associate
without concern as to its possible negative
ramification to The People of Yonkers.
A call to Council President Lesnick’s
Communication Aide Adam Brill
requesting Mr Lesnick’s telephone contact
led to him defining his job was to field
calls for Mr Lesnick. Mr Brill has proven
himself incapable to responding to this
reporter in a forthright manner. Further
inquiry of Mr Brill was terminated with
the advisement that this article would be
sadly written without any further input
from Mr Lesnick.
LABOR
Connections—Two Sides of the Coin: Tenure and Seniority Part 2 of 3
By Marilyn Elie
Recent
statements
from politicians across
the country indicate
that tenure and seniority
in education are under
serious attack. This attack is part of a
battle in the coordinated war against
public education with reform being used
as a code word to gut the progress that has
been achieved in taking teacher appointments out of the political arena. It is a
battle waged for ideological purposes and
has at its heart a thinly disguised attack
on unions. Students First, an advocacy
group run by the former school chancellor
of Washington D.C. Michelle Rhee, has
made abolishing tenure a primary goal
and has advised the governors of Florida,
Nevada and New Jersey. Here is what the
Governors of those states have to say, as
reported in the New York Times.
• ‘It’s practically impossible to remove
an underperforming teacher under
the system we have now,” Gov. Brian
Sandoval, Republican, Nevada.
• Governor Chris Christie, Republican,
New Jersey, has been in a running battle
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with the teachers union and plans to
introduce a bill “reshaping” tenure.
• Governor Rick Scott, Republican,
Florida: “Good teachers know they
don’t need tenure. There is no reason to
have it except to protect those that don’t
perform as they should.”
• Governor C. L. Otter, Republican,
Idaho, flatly states, “The state will phase
out tenure.”
I invite readers who think of tenure
and seniority as unwarranted job security
and an unnecessary hindrance to good
business management to read on for a
closer look and examine the implications
for eliminating tenure.
First of all, new teachers work from
two to three years, depending on the
Continued on page 12
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The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
LABOR
Connections—Two Sides of the Coin: Tenure and Seniority Part 2 of 3
Continued from page 11
district, with no protection of any kind.
They serve at the pleasure of the building
administrator who has multiple opportunities to observe them, conference with
them and evaluate their professional
worth. During this probationary period
a principal can dismiss a teacher, no
questions asked, no union protection, no
recourse. At the end of the probationary
period a principal can let a teacher go,
or recommend to the school board that
a teacher be granted tenure. This would
seem to be an adequate amount of time to
assess new people coming into the profession. Once granted tenure, a teacher is
covered by a set of rules that are designed
to make loss of employment fair and
equitable, that is, not subject to the whims
and caprice of administration, the school
board or the public. (Some may recall the
legal efforts of a group in Westchester
some years back against Fox Lane High
Lane High School because they objected
to the celebration of Earth Day.)
Tenure is not a lifetime guarantee of
employment. Rules for dismissal in New
York have recently been streamlined so
that charges against tenured teachers
deemed incompetent can be processed
much faster and those deemed guilty
removed from the profession. While
the union is responsible for making sure
this process works fairly, no one in any
profession wants problematic workers as
colleagues. It is puzzling that those in the
private sector would like to take this basic
protection away from other professionals
rather than working to have it in their
own office. In education, tenure is also
is a protection for intellectual freedom something that still plays out in certain
regions of the country when the unit on
evolution comes up in biology text books.”
Tenure and its companion, seniority,
work in any field. If you want to see what
happens when they disappear look at the
profession of journalism. Newspapers
are in the midst of a meltdown. Staff in
newsrooms across the country has been
cut to the bone and experienced reporters
have been fired. If you think that this has
improved news coverage, take another look
at your regional newspaper. You no longer
find investigative reporting, coverage of
state and local government or reporters
who can take the time to understand the
many issues they have to cover. Everything
is reported as if it happened for the first
time with little or no context. This is not
good for our democratic process.
While you’re at it, take a look at the
22 “right to work” states, or as some call
them “right to fire states.” These states
have laws that limit unionization and
give management free rein to fire workers
with no explanation and no recourse.
You can see the list at http://jobs.
lovetoknow.com/Right_to_Work_States.
Few of these states are known for their
outstanding educational systems. Most
rank well below the medium. You need
an experienced body of professionals with
institutional memory to keep any well run
school on tract. The system needs teachers
who are not afraid to speak out because
they might get fired. Teachers who know
what works and what doesn’t; who know
what the research says, how to implement
it and how to pass that knowledge on to
younger teachers in daily interactions and
mentoring. You also need an enlightened
principal with an overview of their school,
a determination to help every teacher be
the best they can be and a willingness
to do the work necessary to challenge
anyone who doesn’t measure up within a
fair and equitable system of tenure.
If you want to save money in education how about consolidating some school
districts and eliminating some high
priced superintendent salaries. Now that’s
a horse of a different color…
Next Week: Paying for education.
Connections, an occasional column on how
everything is connected and how few things
are as simple as they might first appear… is
penned by Marilyn Elie.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor:
Open Letter
to NYS
Commissioner of Education Dr.
David M. Steiner
By MaryAnn McCarra-Fitzpatrick
Dr. David M. Steiner
Commissioner of Education
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234
Dear Dr. Steiner:
I am writing today to share with you
the experience we recently had at the IEP
meeting held for our profoundly autistic
(non-verbal/still in diapers/functioning at
a one-to-two-year-old level) ten-year-old
son.
Back in December 2010, the Mount
Vernon City School District (MVCSD)
held a “dinner” for all parents of special
education students currently in out-ofdistrict placements. The main thrust of
this meeting was that out-of-district
placements were meant to be temporary
and that there would be a movement to
shift children back to the district. They
are doing this under the guise of stressing
LRE (least restrictive environment) and
that, if these children have less supports,
they will “pull themselves up” by their
bootstraps. It was clear to most that the
district is motivated, in this regard, not by
the best interests of the children in question but by financial imperatives.
Our son, Aidan, has been a student
at the Hawthorne Country Day School
in Hawthorne, NY since the age of five.
We visited the two “programs” they had
for autistic children within the district
but it was our feeling, and the opinion of
his teachers at the Fred S. Keller School
(Yonkers, NY) that Aidan was far too
low-functioning to progress in such
settings. Therefore, he was, at age five,
admitted to the Hawthorne Country Day
School.
Our son’s IEP meeting was held
yesterday. While we arrived early, we were
kept waiting over seventy minutes, with
nary an apology or an explanation for
the delay from Ms. Kim Smith. This is
typical of MVCSD personnel….you are
kept waiting months for evaluations to be
done, they do not answer the telephone
when you call, you leave messages and
they do not possess the basic courtesy to
return telephone calls, respond to emails,
or respond to letters. I do not know
whether this is due to poor upbringing or
not, but I find it patently unacceptable.
It has, in the past, taken, on average,
six or seven emails, followed by four or
five faxes, followed by two or three letters,
followed by multiple telephone calls to get
one thing accomplished. We have put up
with this obnoxious bureaucracy and the
lack of courtesy exhibited by MVCSD
personnel patiently for the five years our
son’s services have been under the aegis
of the Mount Vernon CSD Special
Education Department.
Almost immediately, Ms. Smith
started in on how we should consider a
Continued on page 13
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Men,Women, Children
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 13
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor
Continued from page 12
placement within the district, that our
son’s current placement was meant to
be temporary, and that there were two
programs (at Traphagen Elementary
School and at the Lincoln Annex) that
would be appropriate for our son. I
explained that I had visited these programs
and that they were not appropriate placements for our son. My husband enquired
as regards whether or not there was any
information available, either in printed
form or on the MVCSD website, on
these programs, and she said, in a quite
abrupt and rude manner, that, no, there
was not, and that we would have to visit
them in order to find out about them. Ms.
Smith also persisted in calling our son a
“fifth-grader” even though he has always
been in an ungraded classroom. In addition, it was made apparent that his need
for an extended-year program would be
questioned.
Her manner towards us was extremely
rude and belligerent. When we protested,
in a reasonable and measured manner,
that these were not appropriate placements for our son, since he is non-verbal,
still in diapers, and bites (himself and
others) she kept referring, as she said, to
the “law” that it was the “law” that he be
in what she considered to be the LRE
(least restrictive environment), namely, an
in-district program which would be more
cost-effective for the district.
Placement in a mainstream elementary school, even in a classroom designated
for special education students, would be
a disaster for our son. He is a bolter, has
no sense of danger, and needs constant
one-to-one supervision. He is not toilet
trained and cannot independently execute
any “self-care” such as washing or dressing
and undressing himself. This has been
borne out in our day to day experience
of him these past ten years and has
been documented thoroughly in countless evaluations and reports, including
those of his paediatric neurologist, Dr.
Yitzchak Frank (our son takes Abilify in
order to reduce the number and extremity
of his violent outbursts), at Mount Sinai
Hospital in New York City.
I have already contacted the United
States Secretary of Education, Arne
Duncan, to express my extreme displeasure at what seems to be going on here
in the City of Mount Vernon School
District. While I understand that they
have budgetary concerns, I would suggest
that they do not try to balance their
budget on the backs of special needs
students such as my son.
As far as “the law” goes, we are more
than prepared to secure the services of
any number of lawyers and advocacy
organizations to fight the City of Mount
Vernon School District on this issue. Ms.
Smith may parrot “the law, the law” and
stab her finger, in a belligerent manner, at
a photocopy as often as she wishes, but
what is best for the child is paramount.
It may mean that, in the end, the superintendent’s pension is not quite as large,
but I think most parents of special needs
children would not find that highly
problematic.
Yours sincerely,
MaryAnn McCarra-Fitzpatrick
cc: Robert Astorino, Westchester County
Executive
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Rep. Eliot Engel
Sen. Kristin Gillibrand
Sen. Charles E. Schumer
Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein
Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow
U.S. Secretary for Education, Arne
Duncan
MaryAnn McCarra-Fitzpatrick and her
family reside in the City of Mount Vernon,
New York.
MUSIC
THE SOUNDS Freddie King TEXAS FLYER
OFBLUE
Bear Family 5-CD box set
By Bob Putignano
“80 % Live Tracks, 20 % Studio Performances = 50% of Solid Entertainment”
The Bear Family Records folks must be huge Freddie
King fans. Why do I say that? Just about one year ago
they released a seven-disc box, Taking Care of Business
1956-1973, that was previously reviewed by yours truly
for BluesWax. So this Texas Flyer 1974-1976 chronologically picks up where that previous release ended with
four CDs of live performances and one CD of studio
tracks and alternates.
Disc One contains all in-studio tracks mostly
produced by Mike Vernon offering a solid lineup of
stellar studio musicians recorded in the U.K. Just about
all these tunes are sonically crisp and clear and definitely
stand the test of time even though they were recorded
more than thirty-five years ago. Standouts include “Pack
It Up,” “Only Getting Second Best” (with keyboard
wizard Brian Auger), and the rousing instrumental
“Pulp Wood.” The great Tom Dowd also produced
five tunes with Eric Clapton and his band from 1974
recorded at the legendary Criteria Studios in Miami.
The most memorable is Freddie’s “Boogie Funk” where
Clapton and King feverishly tear it up. The remaining
four discs are recorded live and in concert, some of which
are strong, others not.
Disc Two contains five tracks recorded in Austin,
Texas, at Armadillo World Headquarters from 1975
and features a fairly large band with a three-piece horn
section that smolders, especially when the late great
David “Fathead” Newman is given room to wail. Paul
Butterfield’s “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide” kicks
off this run, smartly followed by a wonderful reading of
B.B. King’s “Woke Up This Morning” that burns.
The remaining nine live songs emanate from
Ultrasonic Recording Studios in Long Island, New York,
that was also simulcast on WLIR-FM late in 1974. Back
in the day, WLIR broadcast a ton of live recordings, some
from these studios and others from the now defunct
My Father’s Place Club in Roslyn, Long Island. I used
to listen to many of these broadcasts, but I don’t recall
this one. For me this live session is the pinnacle of this
box set. It is here we find Freddie fronting a smaller sixpiece ensemble, no horns. King and the band are on fire
throughout, especially on the opening “Big Leg Woman
(With a Short Short Mini Skirt),” Elmore James’
“Look On Yonder Wall,” and a blistering “Boogie Funk”
instrumental.
Disc Three fades in to a short, boiling jam that
becomes yet another rendering of “Big Leg Woman.”
Weird! This edition of King’s 1975 band is similar in size
to the WLIR broadcast with minor changes in personal,
but the quality of this performance is not as strong.
Standing out is King’s classic instrumental “Hideaway,”
which also tips its hat at the “Peter Gunn Theme.” Sweet!
But the only other song that attracted my attention was
Continued on page 14
Page 14
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
MUSIC
Freddie King TEXAS FLYER Bear Family 5-CD box set
Continued from page 13
on Earl King’s “Come On (Let the Good
Times Roll).” Disc Four is not as well recorded as the
previous discs. The band shrinks in size
and the songs become longer, the musician credits, recording date, and venue
location liner notes are now a foregone
conclusion. The songs have that mid ‘70’s
drug culture feel, especially on an uncredited instrumental, “Funk Instrumental”
that segues into a lengthy “Going Down,”
authored by Don Nix, a song King took
and made his own. Nine minutes of
“You’re the One” is mostly King rambling
through it talking to the crowd, segueing
“Stormy Monday” into Isaac Hayes and
David Porter’s “Little Bluebird,” which
had me yawning. Disc Five, for the most part just plods,
especially on Jimmy Reed’s “Signals of
Love” and “Woman Across the Water.”
Rock covers like Bob Dylan’s “Meet Me
In the Morning” are also in slow motion.
Dave Mason’s “Feeling Alright” is pretty
okay, but it’s becoming a little obvious
that Mr. King was having to change his
song selections to retain an appropriate
audience.
“Hideaway” does bounce along
nicely and segues into B. Lenoir’s “The
Mojo.” There must have been a venue
change because on another take of “Little
Bluebird” the sound quality dramatically
improves as does King and his bands
performance. Last, but not least, Don Robey
and Joe Veasey’s “Farther On Up the
Road” closes this recording, and it’s a
great version. Recorded on the King
Biscuit Flower Hour show in Dallas just
about one month prior to King’s passing,
Freddie is sitting in with Clapton and his
band consisting of Carl Radle on bass,
George Terry on second guitar, Jamie
Oldaker drums, Dick Sims keyboards,
and Sergio Pastora on percussion. It’s
a burning rendition where Clapton and
King fire off each other, with Clapton
taking the final solo at breakneck speed
and power, giving me the opinion that
EC did not want to be overshadowed by
his hero’s dynamite playing.
In summary, about half of the music
on this five-CD set is of high quality. The
other half left me with the feeling that the
label was searching for good reasons to
make this a sizeable offering at a fat retail
price. In fairness, the construction of this
box set is solid and also includes an eightypage hardcover book filled with good
amounts of meaningful information from
reissue producer Bill Dahl. Other contributing writers like David Maxwell add to
this classy book. There are also quotes from
Johnny Jones, producer Mike Vernon,
Darrell Leonard, and Jimmie Vaughan.
Clapton’s also quoted as saying that
Freddie King was the most stimulating
musician he played with. Two obits from
Melody Maker and Rolling Stone magazines are also tasteful additions.
One major complaint is with the five
individual jewel boxes, other than the disc
number, and track listings, there’s virtually
no difference between them, no liner notes
are offered, making it necessary to continually refer to the far clumsier eighty-page
book. Plus, there’s only a one-page front
tray sheet. This is odd when you consider
all of the good research work that went
into making this box. One would have
thought that a little more detail could
have been thrown at each individual jewel
box for some needed reference factoids.
Unfortunately this is not the case!
Bob Putignano is at www.SoundsofBlue.
com. He’s also a senior contributing
editor to www.Blueswax.com & Blues
Revue Magazine. You can reach Bob at:
bob8003@yahoo.com
POLITICS
Westchester County Board of Legislators Maintains It’s Supermajority
By Nancy King
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011,
saw the Westchester County Board of
Legislators maintain their 12-5 supermajority with Mary Jane Shimsky’s
win over Republican challenger Nick
DeCicco. The Democrat from Hastings
had 2,261 votes to DeCicco’s1,876 votes.
This insures Ken Jenkins and the gang
to continue moving their agenda forward
while the Astorino administration and
the long suffering taxpayers will more
than likely be opening their wallets one
more time. Mrs. Shimsky has stated that
she will keep an eye on the budget while
maintaining child care for low income
families, promoting environmental
issues and preserving a woman’s reproductive rights: A tall order for a County
Legislator. I think the good taxpayers of
Westchester are less worried about Roe
v.Wade and more worried about their tax
bills.
Losing to Mrs. Shimsky, was political newcomer Nick DeCicco. DeCicco
who hails from Hartsdale is a prosecutor
assigned to the Yonkers Family Court.
Mary Jane Shimsky
He is also a member of the Greenburgh
Zoning Board of Appeals. It is this
volunteer position that may have cost
Mr. DeCicco the election. About a week
before the election, a Democrat District
Leader filed a complaint against DeCicco
asking him to recuse himself from the
Zoning Board of Appeals. It seems that
Mr. DeCicco’s campaign may have taken
a contribution from the proprietor of
Deli Delicious, a local business in the
area. Deli Delicious at the time had had
a case being heard by the Zoning Board
of Appeals. Although Mr. DeCicco had
contacted the board chairman early last
month relaying that he had planned to
abstain from the Deli Delicious vote, he
was beaten to the punch in the form of
a complaint to the Ethics Board. Ahh …
politics in Greenburgh.
Complaints like these are as
common as crabgrass in that town but
Mr. DeCicco’s treasurer and campaign
manager should have known better
than to take that contribution. They
were inexperienced in the intracasies of
campaign management and you can be
their bottom dollar that they won’t make
that mistake twice. Still Mr. DeCicco
ended this special election with capturing
46% of the vote in ultra DemocraticLiberal Greenburgh.
Mrs. Shimsky has about four months
to prove her worth to the residents of
Westchester County. Because this was
a special election, she gets to do this
again for the November ballot. It won’t
be too long before June and that all too
important petition drive for November
rolls around. Those of us, no matter
what party we are affiliated with hope
that Nick DeCicco will take another
run because we believe in the system of
checks and balances. We believe in fair
representation and in having a legislator
who will work for all of us, not just the
supermajority.
The March 15th village elections are
nearly here. The school board budget
hearings and elections are looming in
the not so far distance in May. By the
time June rolls around, we all will be
able to see if Mrs. Shimsky is serving us
or her own (and those of Ken Jenkins)
aspirations.
The Westchester Guardian
SHIFTING GEARS
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 15
THE SPOOF
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it’s sure to draw attention. Precision machined details abound, like the slit pattern in
the headlight and meter. Many metalwork components are hand finished by master
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no run-of-the-mill cruiser.
The gutsy 1304cc, fuel-injected liquid-cooled V-Twin engine churns out the inspired,
big-engine feel riders will love. Even with its radically raked out front end, Stryker has
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the muscular styling of the bike. No cheap plastic fenders here – this authentic cruiser
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The 2011 Stryker is now available in dealerships nationwide with a starting MSRP
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Learn more at Star Motorcycles.
Is Lady Gaga an Alien from Outer Space?
By Gail Farrelly
After the February 13
Grammy Awards show,
some think the answer is,
“YES!,” arguing, “Is there
any doubt? She arrived in
an egg, for Pete’s sake.”
Others disagree. One Lady Gaga fan
was heard to comment, “It’s her right to
choose an egg as a means of transportation. Who cares? It’s a free country, and at
least she isn’t polluting the environment
with a gas guzzler.”
Lady Gaga had no comment about
the rumor. She was too busy planning a
special barbecue at which her meat dress
will be the main course.
The talk about the possibility of Lady
Gaga’s being an alien has started the ball
rolling. Speculation is now rampant about
others who may also be aliens. Here are
two possibilities
-- Spider-Man. He can’t seem to get
his act together and run a Broadway show
without glitches. Could it be he doesn’t
know how to, because he’s from another
world? Um, maybe they don’t have
Broadway shows in outer space.
-- Mickey Mouse, a very unusual
rodent. Is he a homegrown one?
“Absolutely,” claims one of his avid
followers, who added, “sure he has large
ears and wears big geeky shoes and white
gloves, but he’s as American as apple pie.”
Well, the jury is still out on whether
there are aliens from outer space hanging
out here on earth. But comedienne Ellen
DeGeneres may have the best take on the
topic, saying, “The only thing that scares
me more than space aliens is the idea that
there aren’t any space aliens. We can’t be
the best that creation has to offer. I pray
we’re not all there is. If so, we’re in big
trouble.”
Exactly.
Gail Farrelly (www.FarrellySistersOnline.
com) writes mystery novels and short stories
as well as Op-Eds. She also publishes satire
pieces (Gail Farrelly’s satire and parody
stories) on TheSpoof.com, a British website.
Her latest mystery novel is Creamed at
Commencement: A Graduation Mystery.
The first chapter is available on her website.
Gail is working on a fourth mystery, The
Virtual Heiress.
SHOW PREP
A Church Burns Down - The People Rise Up
By Bob Marrone
What a wonderful
disappointment. Here I
was digesting green bile
for a week so I could vomit
out a screed on how our
culture of selfishness threatens to slowly
turn our country into an historic also ran.
Well, I guess my treatise on America’s
slide will have to wait. I may even have to
reevaluate my premise.
What changed? A church burned
down in New Rochelle.
There is scarcely a more contradictory place than this city hard by the
sound. One of the great upper class
suburbs of New York shares real estate
with a genuine inner city, that itself sits
next to older middle class havens where
the descendants of immigrants from
another time still hold sway. This diversity is matched by the resident’s robust
debates. They argue over everything from
school budgets to garbage pick-ups. Who
are “they?” They are a rich multicultural
and multiracial microcosm of America
itself. We have whites, blacks, Latinos,
Christians and Jews.
It’s not perfect. It’s not utopia.
Sometimes this town ties itself in knots
of disagreement. It has taken them fifty
years to go absolutely nowhere on the
precious parcel of real estate known as
David’s Island. And they are still hacking
a decision to build the Avalon One apartment high rise. The place is already
fifteen years old. So trust me, this is not a
Pollyanna piece about how New Rochelle
is the world’s best city. I will leave that to
the politicians.
What New Rochelle is the real deal;
real people with different opinions and
different backgrounds. Let’s look at some
of the town’s icons: The mayor is a local
Jewish intellectual whose family survived
the holocaust. He may well be the most
cerebral politician in New York State.
The fire commissioner’s nick name is doc,
after his father who apparently delivered
half of the town’s babies in his day, and
whose father before him was a fireman in
the city. The police commissioner is an
Irish cop from New York City straight
out of central casting. Perhaps his most
multitalented police officer is an African
American who on any given day, you
are as likely to find on a motorcycle, as
you are rising out of Beechmont Lake
in scuba equipment, or leading a special
squad during a fire. The superintendent
of schools is an over educated kid from
Brooklyn with a polish last name easier to
spell than pronounce.
We have one county’s toughest bloggers; a radio station and a chapter of the
NAACP. We have churches…lots of
churches, and almost as many synagogues.
We’ve got the Armory and the Rotary,
the funny looking post office and an old
newspaper building. Thomas Paine lived
here and Lou Gerhig died here. It goes
on and on. There are street gangs and
Songcatchers, mailmen and dogcatchers,
veterans and partisans.
And a Church burned down in New
Rochelle.
That’s when they all came out... when
the ninety nine year old Union Baptist
Church, burned down. Jim Killoran
from Habitat for Humanity had an
Continued on page 16
Page 16
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
EYE ON THEATRE
Compulsion
By John Simon
Almost
everyone
knows the tragic story of
Anne Frank, and many
have read the young victim
of the Nazis’ extraordinary
diary. Some people may
even have read Meyer Levin’s, the wellknown Jewish-American writer’s memoir
about his obsession with adapting that
diary for the stage.
Levin’s glowing front-page review
of the book in the New York Times
Book Review greatly helped the sales
in America, but his stage version did
not impress Doubleday, the American
publishers, or their adviser Lillian
Hellman. Instead, an adaptation commissioned from the husband and wife team
of screenwriters Frances Goodrich and
Albert Hackett became a Broadway and
international hit.
Now there is no denying that this
version from non-Jewish Hollywood
prettifiers could and did enrage Levin,
furious that his version was rejected for
allegedly being “too Jewish.” Otto Frank,
Anne’s father, had broken his promise to
grant Levin the rights to adaptation, and
Levin sued, winning $50,000 in damages
which the judge set aside until further
proof that some of his play was used by
the Hackett’s could be obtained. But he
was also sweet-talked or bullied into abrogating any future rights to a production of
his version, lest neither be mounted.
Hannah Cabell and Mandy Patinkin Photo Credit Joan Marcus.
We get scenes of Sid Silver (though
named after an autobiographical character in a Levin novel) with various
Doubleday staffers and lawyers, with his
charming French writer wife Tereska
Torres—always referred to as Mrs.
Silver—and, finally, scenes in Israel where
the Silver’s immigrated. There an Israeli
theatre director got Silver a production of
his version by the Army Theater, which
he announced in a letter to the New York
Times, causing further trouble.
Intermittently Anne Frank herself
appears, played by a puppet, getting
variously involved and once even insinuating her way into the Silver marital
bed between the spouses. Anne’s lines
A Church Burns Down - The People Rise Up
Continued from page 15
address for donations before the fire was extinguished. I am sure he already had nails in
his teeth waiting for the embers to cool so he could start work. There was Doc Kiernan,
up all night, still at it in mid-afternoon trying to save the church he used to walk past
when he was a little boy. The Jewish temples offered their buildings for Sunday service,
and Monroe College offered its basketball court. St. Paul Episcopal Church is, no
doubt, proud that the first Sunday offsite service of the Union Baptist Church will be
there on Sunday. Right after that, the interreligious council, started by Rabi Amiel
Wohl, all those years ago, will conduct a memorial service. These people in this town,
from different religions, often worship together. It is not to be believed. The tears in
the eyes of people of all background over the loss of the largely black congregation are
genuinely moving.
This place, this Queen City, is such a wonderfully peculiar and beautiful place. It
may not be perfect but it is a true community.
Listen to Good Morning Westchester with Bob Marrone from 6-9 a.m., from Monday through
Friday. Direct email to Bob Marrone at Bob@WVOX.com, and visiting the BobMarrone.
com website.
are sometimes spoken by Silver, which
I found disturbing; at others, by Miss
Mermin, a Doubleday editor, and played
in a blond wig by the same actress who
plays Mrs. Silver in a red one.
To keep the human cast down to
three, several male roles are played by
the same actor; two further puppets
make interesting appearances, one as
Anne’s boyfriend, the other as a lawyer,
Mr. Ferris, with a killer knife in his back.
The presence of puppets can be partly
explained by Meyer Levin having been
briefly a puppeteer in his youth. They are
very convincing puppets expertly made by
Matt Acheson.
Oskar Eustis, the artistic director
of the Public Theater, has directed efficiently. There is apt scenery by Eugene
Lee, good video and projection design by
Jeff Sugg, authentic costuming by Susan
Hilferty, and able lighting by Michael
Chybowski. But the ace card of the
production is Mandy Patinkin in the lead.
Now Patinkin is a maximalist actor,
who throws himself into every role with
reckless abandon, shouts, weeps, or
whines, lunges like a fencer, gesticulates
like a perfervid traffic cop, and, toward
the end, stares fixedly with an expression
midway between pathos and dementia.
Seated in the second row, I was not
without concern that he might charge me
like a rogue elephant or land in my lap
like a ventriloquist’s dummy, neither of
which I would have relished. Personally, I
have always preferred less flamboyance—
especially perhaps the sort of inspired
underacting Ralph Richardson excelled
at—but if you go in for heaven-storming
histrionics, Patinkin is surely your man.
Hannah Cabell is delightful in her
dual role, with or without a lightsome
French accent, and manages two antithetic personalities with exemplary ease,
her cool Miss Mermin metamorphosing
seamlessly into the mostly warm Mrs.
Silver. Matte Osian handles the four or
five male roles (one loses count) with
similar dexterity, and the puppets, too,
perform irreproachably.
Rinne Groff ’s writing is entirely
idiomatic for American, French and
Israeli characters, and the story she tells is
an unflaggingly gripping one. Her Silver
may propound Judaism and excoriate
anti-Semitism a mite more shrilly and
frequently than would seem necessary, but
I dare say Meyer Levin was not a bit less
emphatic.
Levin used the title, Compulsion,
for his novel—and subsequent stage
and screen versions—about the Loeb
and Leopold murder case, one of his
chief successes. As for the Levin stage
version of the Anne Frank story, it has
been mounted in a student production at
Brandeis University in 1972 without legal
hassle. I can see no reason why the two
versions should not more or less peacefully coexist.
The Public Theater
(Co-production with Berkeley Repertory
Theater and Yale Repertory Theater)
425 Lafayette Street
Tickets: (212) 967-7555 or
www.publictheater.org
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
The Westchester Guardian
Page 17
TRAVEL
Telluride—Taking the Road Less Traveled
By Barbara Barton Sloane
Snowflakes are one
of nature’s most fragile
things, but just look what
they do when they stick
together. In Telluride,Colorado, their
sticking together has produced a magnificent, world-class resort for all manner of
winter sports.
The destination is nestled in the
southwest corner of Colorado where
geology did some of its best work. Peaks
of 14,000 feet melt into red-rock mesas
and lush stands of evergreen and aspen
silently forest the hills. Telluride, once a
booming silver mining town, is now an
historic gem with much of its original
Victorian architecture preserved.
The Telluride Ski Resort offers
something for everyone, whether it’s
gentle, open, rolling slopes or challenging
black diamond bumps, some of the most
challenging skiing in North America.
Lovely. However, as I do not indulge in
winter sports (read: absolutely no ability),
an inviting road less traveled beckoned
furiously to me. I had to take it.
The Peaks Resort & Golden Door
Spa, hovering high above the town,
is where I chose to hang for the couple
of days I spent in Telluride, and it had
everything that a non-skier, non-boarder,
non-skater like me could possibly wish
for. It was divine, a haven for we who do
not define R&R by flying down a vertical
mountain slope, wind lacerating our
faces, and the threat of imminent catastrophe looming over our heads. Instead,
proponents of soft adventure (accent on
soft) will find this full-service resort one’s
perfect cup of tea or hot toddy, whatever
the preference.
This resort is home to the famed
Golden Door Spa, and, in keeping with its
original property in California, it is dedicated to creating a balance of body, mind
and spirit through personal programs
and treatments. Feeling a slight pang of
guilt as I watched fit individuals zooming
down mountains, faces glowing from the
icy wind and frozen into masks of sheer
concentration lest they crash and burn,
I felt compelled to choose the Healthy
Lifestyle Package. It promised that my
body would “thank me for taking the time
to respect and nourish it.” I am certain
my body was really thanking me for not
attempting to ski. The 3-hour session
included a private body composition analysis and fitness assessment (oh-oh) and a
Telluride_The Peaks Resort in the Fall
The Golden Door Spa at The Peaks Resort
personal training session (okaaay) and
then the good stuff: a 50-minute, customized Swedish massage (puuurfect).
I dined that evening at the resort’s
Palmyra restaurant under the guidance
of Chef Stuart Redhead (really) who
works his culinary wonders with the
freshest local ingredients and explains
that he “focuses on clean, simple flavors
(literally)in cool ski clothing, no one could
tell I wasn’t a winter-sports gal. I felt like
an insider, a true Telluridian in my shiny
red Obermeyer jacket and slim black ski
pants . Not wanting to lose this heady
feeling of fitting in, for dinner I changed
into my cute Columbia thermal-insulated
Prism Ice Parka. On my walk back to
the hotel I didn’t hurry along – I strolled,
warm and snug in hip ski duds.
The Peaks offers a bounty of activities. It is a ski-in/ski-out resort with
There’s an anonymous quote that says
“Winter must be cold for those with no
warm memories.” Next winter should be a
piece of cake because I left Telluride with
a wealth of very warm memories.
Travel Editor, Barbara Barton Sloane is
constantly globe-hopping to share her unique
experiences with our readers; from the exotic
to the sublime. As Beauty / Fashion Editor
she keeps us informed on the capricious and
engaging fashion scene.
Things To Know Before
You Go
Telluride Visitors Center
www.visittelluride.com
Hotels
The Peaks Resort & Spa
www.thepeaksresort.com
Lumiere Telluride
www.lumierehotels.com
Camels Garden
www.camelsgarden.com
Skiwear
Obermeyer – www.obermeyer.com
Columbia – www.columbia.com
Telluride_Family Fun
and seasonal, artisanal ingredients.” My
dinner was lovely, the view spectacular, a
perfect “Ten-Day” overall.
The next day I ventured out of my
cocoon and wandered the town which
looks much as it did in the 1880s with
brick hotels and clapboard storefronts.
I enjoyed checking out the shops, art
galleries, and the best part: tricked out
access to Telluride’s miles of trails, snowboarding, tubing and ice skating. Guest
rooms are comfortable, the suites ultraluxurious, and cabins and penthouses
have custom décor, vaulted ceilings, and
stone fireplaces. The resort is a 10-minute
ride from Telluride Regional Airport
and a scenic hour and 15 minutes from
Montrose Airport.
Summer Festivities
May 27-30 – Mountainfilm, a distinctive
blend of films, speakers, gallery exhibits,
and seminars
June 16-19 – Bluegrass Festival features
four days of bluegrass music on the
stage in Town Park
August 5-7 – Telluride Jazz Celebration,
with Rita Coolidge, Paquito D’Rivera and
many others
Page 18
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
TRUTH AND JUSTICE
Selwyn Days Round 3 - Week 2
By Jeff Deskovic
Questionable Police Interrogation Tactics Surface
Last
Wednesday
morning saw the presentation of some startling
testimony by now retired Eastchester
Police Detective Astorita upon crossexamination by defense attorney Roberto
Finzi in the Selwyn Days alleged doublehomicide. Under intense questioning
by attorney Finzi on cross-examination,
Astorita acknowledged that following
an initial five hour round of interrogation during which there was no video or
audio recording nor any written notes
taken, there then followed a second round
of interrogation that was videotaped but
was however preceded by a period which,
he initially claimed, was fifteen to twenty
minutes, again with no audio or video
recording nor handwritten notes. However,
immediately confronted by Finzi with his
prior testimony, the witness was compelled
to withdraw his estimate and acknowledge
that it was not twenty mintues but closer
to an hour. Following that concession,
Astorita laughed, and said off-handedly,
“You got me Counselor,” followed by the
suggestion “It was a long time ago.”
Pursuing the fact that there had been
five hours and then another hour of unrecorded interrogation, Finzi queried, “You
wanted to hear how he’d answer before
you memorialized it?” Astorita curtly
responded, “Yes.”
Having raised some serious issues
with respect to interrogation tactics, Finzi
now turned to another line of questions
intended to demonstrate the numerous
known inaccuracies in Selwyn Days’
399 Huguenot St.
New Rochelle, NY 10801
915-636-7235
statement, in an effort to demonstrate
that Astorita and his partners should have
recognized that the confession was false.
Astorita conceded the following: Days said
he used the side door to access the house,
when in fact there was no side door; Days
said he, “popped open the door,” yet, there
were no signs of forcible entry; Days said
he kicked the dog, yet post mortem examination revealed no such injury; Days said
he washed the blood from his hands in the
sink, but there was no evidence of blood
residue in the sink; Days stated he had
driven his car to Delaware and “lost it,” yet,
despite a police search, no car ever turned
up, nor were they able to confirm his presence in Delaware.
Sensing that he had Astorita on the
ropes, and wishing to demonstrate that
he and his fellow officers had failed to
do a fundamental aspect of interrogation,
namely establishment of a claim within
a confession that could be independently
corroborated, Finzi now asked, “What did
he tell you that you didn’t already know that
you verified?” Astorita, appearing a little
taken aback by the question, now paused
before feebly citing a number of locations
that Days claimed to have visited, none
of which proved any previously unknown
element of the crime, nor were they able to
prove Days had been there. In an attempt
to bolster his faltering testimony, Astorita
now volunteered what he called other
details that Days supplied: that Harris’
home health aid had been killed second;
and that Harris had been sitting up when
Days came into contact with him; that
Harris used profanity upon seeing Days
which Astorita claimed was consistent
with Harris’ personality; that Days had
not previously cased the house prior to
entry; and that the home health-aid had
surprised him, “coming out of nowhere.”
Finzi, immediately recognizing that each
of the “revelations” were unverifiable and
therefore did not constitute unknown
details despite Astorita’s attempt to pass
them off as such, now lowered the boom
one item at a time, establishing that it was
impossible to confirm any of those details,
and they were virtually meaningless by way
of establishing a genuine confession.
On redirect examination, ADA
Christine O’Connor, attempting to obfuscate the exposed lack of corroborative effort
by Eastchester Police while at the same
time rehabilitating her witness’ credibility,
now inquired of Astorita as to whether Mr.
Days had mentioned a knife and a rope.
Receiving an affirmative response, she then
proceeded in a different direction.
Apparently concerned that Finzi had
made a convincing argument for the fact
that Selwyn Days had been fed information in the six hours of interrogation prior
to the video-taping, she now asked, “When
Mr. Days mentioned entering the house
through the side door, you didn’t stop and
correct him, did you?” Of course, Astorita
quickly responded, “No.” She then asked
similar questions regarding a number of
other mistakes made by Days in his statement which were not corrected, to which
Astorita repeatedly responded, “No.”
Analysis
Conducting an interrogation prior to
turning on recording equipment defeats
the whole point of recording: to make
a complete and accurate record of who
said what and when. It is obvious that
Detective Astorita and his colleagues did
not want their preparation of this defendant for videotaping to be memorialized,
out of concern that it would reveal both
coercive and instructional tactics. The
one moment in this cross-examination
that was startlingly candid was Astorita’s
admission that, in fact, they wanted to be
certain of exactly what he would say before
they rolled the camera.
Astorita’s deliberate failure to take any
notes during a total of six hours of prior
interrogation, represents a deviation from
good police practices.
In this reporter’s opinion, former
Detective Astorita’s testimony was not
credible.
ADA O’Connor’s attempt on redirect with respect to the knife and the rope
was surely blunted by the fact, firstly, that
Astorita and company had been interrogating him without recording it for six
hours prior to his ‘statement’, and further,
the exposure of the details by the media
nearly five years earlier.
Similarly, O’Connor’s trying to suggest
that there were no police suggestions to
Days, by pointing out that the police didn’t
correct him when he got details wrong is
disingenuous given the fact that it was then
video-taped.
Days’ numerous errors were proof
positive that his statement did not constitute a truthful confession.
This testimony demonstrates that even
well-intentioned legislation mandating
video recording of all police interrogations is not adequate unless it specifically
requires start to finish recording in real
time.
Jeffrey M. Deskovic is a Criminal Justice
Advocate and Exoneree. To learn more, wist
his website: www.JeffreyDeskovicSpeaks.org.
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
Page 19
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS
Index No.: 4189-10
Date of Filing: July 13, 2010
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF Westchester
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Trustee under Pooling and Servicing Agreement dated as of February 1, 2003 Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Trust Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2003-WMC1,
Plaintiff,
-againstEILEEN MYERS A/K/A EILEEN MEYERS A/K/A EILEEN LIERMAN; CONSOLIDATED EDISON COMPANY OF NEW YORK, INC.; DELIA LOPEZ, if living,
or if either or all be dead, their wives, husbands, heirs-at-law, next of kin,
distributees, executors, administrators, assignees, lienors and generally
all persons having or claiming under, by or through said DELIA LOPEZ, by
purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise, of any right, title or interest in and
to the premises described in the complaint herein, and the respective husbands, wives, widow or widowers of them, if any, all of whose names are
unknown to plaintiff; ERIC M. FAYER; JEMAB FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP A/K/A JEMAE FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP; LEHRMAN, KRONIC
AND LEHRMAN, LLP; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION
AND FINANCE; PETERBUILT ELECTRIC, INC.; SAIDEL AND SAIDEL, P.C. C/O
TRAUB LIEBERMAN, STRAUSS AND SHREWSBERR; TONY FELICIO; UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA; “JOHN DOES” and “JANE DOES”, said names being
fictitious, parties intended being possible tenants or occupants of premises,
and corporations, other entities or persons who claim, or may claim, a lien
against the premises, Defendants.
TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to
serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a Notice of Appearance on the Plaintiff’s attorney(s) within
twenty (20) days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of
service, where service is made by delivery upon you personally within the
State, or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is
made in any other manner, and in case of your failure to appear or answer,
judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the
complaint.
NOTICE
YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME
If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the
answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure
proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home.
Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further
information on how to answer the summons and protect your property.
Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure
action.
YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.
YOU ARE HEREBY PUT ON NOTICE THAT WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT, AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT
PURPOSE.
TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS:
The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an
Order of the Honorable Orazio R. Bellantoni of the Supreme Court of the State
of New York, signed on January 25, 2011, and filed with supporting papers
in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Westchester, State of New York.
The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage upon the premises described below, executed by EILEEN MYERS A/K/A EILEEN MEYERS A/K/A EILEEN LIERMAN to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as Nominee for WMC Mortgage Corporation in the principal amount of $138,400.00,
which mortgage was recorded in Westchester County, State of New York, on
December 26, 2002, as Control No. 423430737. Said mortgage was thereafter
assigned to the Plaintiff by assignment of mortgage recorded October 8, 2009
as Control No. 49266057.
Said premises being known as and by 1430 MAIN ST, PEEKSKILL, NY 10566.
Date: April 22, 2010
Batavia, New York
Laura Strauss, Esq.
ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Batavia Office 26 Harvester Avenue
Batavia, NY 14020
585.815.0288
Treat Dog Hotels, LLC Articles of
Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY)
1/19/2011. Office in Westchester
Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon
whom process may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to Melissa Horowitz C/O: ESCC 84 Business
Park Dr Ste 115 Armonk, NY 10504.
Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Formation of a Limited
Liability Company (LLC): Name: APPLESTAR HOME INSPECTIONS LLC,
Articles of Organization filed with
the Secretary of State of New York
(SSNY) on 12/16/2010 Office Location: Westchester County, SSNY has
been designated as agent of the LLC
upon whom process against it may
be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of
process to: C/O APPLESTAR HOME
INSPECTIONS LLC, 38 Douglas Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703. Purpose:
Any Lawful Purpose. Latest date
upon Which LLC is to dissolve: No
specific date.
2HB Holdings LLC Articles of Org.
filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY)
9/29/2010. Office in Westchester Co.
SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon
whom process may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to The
LLC 59 Calton Rd. New Rochelle, NY,
10804. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Bookkeeping Performance, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State
(SSNY) 11/8/2010. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent
of LLC upon whom process may
be served. SSNY shall mail copy of
process to The LLC 17 Warren Ave
Tuckahoe, NY 10707. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
R Patisserie LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 01/27/2011.
Office in Westchester Co. SSNY
design. Agent of LLC upon whom
process may be served. SSNY shall
mail copy of process to The LLC 52
Webster Avenue #17 New Rochelle,
NY 10801. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Westchester Jewelers & Pawnbrokers, LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 7/6/2006. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY
design. Agent of LLC upon whom
process may be served. SSNY shall
mail copy of process to Barbara
Buoninfante 685 Esplanade Pelham
Manor, NY 10803. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Icartridge LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 2/7/2011.
Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail
copy of process to The LLC P.O. Box
333 Hartsdale, NY 10530. Purpose:
Any lawful activity.
Page 20
The Westchester Guardian
THURSDAY, FebrUary 24, 2011
www.westchesterguardian.com