Planners to talk about land use decisions
GOSHEN-The Orange County Municipal Planning Federation's annual dinner will begin with a social hour at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen.
Bob Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, will speak on the importance of land-use decisions in the context of transportation planning, and the importance of adequate transportation funding.
In addition, the members will be asked to approve the nominating committee's slate of officers and board members.
The dinner is open to anyone interested in community planning. Tickets are $50 per person, and reservations are required. For more information, call 291-2318.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Caruso seeks county's 14th legislative district seat
HIGHLAND MILLS-Republican and town of Woodbury resident Ralph Caruso has announced his candidacy for the Orange County Legislature's 14th Legislative District, saying "It's time for a change."
The 14th Legislative District covers all six election districts in the Town of Highlands and eight of ten election districts in the Town of Woodbury. Democrat Roxanne Donnery is the two-term incumbent.
"The present legislator has had eight years in office, leaving much undone," Caruso said in his press announcement. "There are major issues remaining to be accomplished, such as finding alternate financial resources to fund schools, while relieving the property owner of this tax burden, reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality, controlling growth, securing additional county and local government revenue sources and arranging an amicable agreement between West Point and Town of Highlands to supply drinking water for Ft. Montgomery residents."
Caruso, who has lived in the town of Woodbury for more than 35 years, is a New York State Senate staff member, working closely with state Sen. William J. Larkin Jr., R-C-Cornwall-on-Hudson. He is retired from the New York City Transit Authority where he was a superintendent of electrical operations. Caruso also held many governmental positions, both elected and appointed, as town councilman, chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals and as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners, the Board of Health, the Architectural Review Board and the Orange County Human Rights Commission.
He has a bachelor of science degree in business management and political science and has served in the United States Naval Air, where he received an Honorable Discharge.
He and his wife of 39 years, Jeanette, have three daughters and a son and seven grandchildren.
Donnery seeks re-election to county Legislature
HIGHLAND FALLS-Democrat Roxanne Donnery has announced her candidacy for re-election to a third four-year term to the Orange County Legislature's 14th district.
District 14 includes eight of ten districts in the Town of Woodbury and the Town of Highlands.
Donnery has served on the legislature's Human Services, Ways and Means, Physical Services, Health and Mental Health, and Public Safety and Emergency Services committees. She also is a member of the medical examiner study committee as well as the Interagency Collaboration County Team where administrators from local schools, courts, and government work together on behalf of children and families.
She also is a member of the Southeast Regional Traffic Task Force, which successfully lobbied for the $8.5 million included in the recently passed federal transportation bill that will bring improvements for the Routes 32/6/17 interchange, access to County Route 105, and Route 32 intersection in Harriman and Highland Mills.
Donnery, with legislator Frank Fornario, successfully pushed Orange County to get involved in the controversial Kiryas Joel pipeline with the creation of a $250,000 legal fund to challenge the village's SEQRA process.
Donnery was also instrumental in helping to secure more than 75 acres of foreclosed property from the county, at a minimal cost for the Town of Woodbury for open space.
Because of the sales tax revenue generated by Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, Donnery has described Woodbury is "Orange County's cash cow." But "the additional costs of being the host community to Woodbury Commons are not being fully met," she added. "Woodbury needs additional help."
"I'm not afraid to speak up or take on tough issues," Donnery added in her press release
HIGHLAND FALLS-Democrat Roxanne Donnery has announced her candidacy for re-election to a third four-year term to the Orange County Legislature's 14th district.
District 14 includes eight of ten districts in the Town of Woodbury and the Town of Highlands.
Donnery has served on the legislature's Human Services, Ways and Means, Physical Services, Health and Mental Health, and Public Safety and Emergency Services committees. She also is a member of the medical examiner study committee as well as the Interagency Collaboration County Team where administrators from local schools, courts, and government work together on behalf of children and families.
She also is a member of the Southeast Regional Traffic Task Force, which successfully lobbied for the $8.5 million included in the recently passed federal transportation bill that will bring improvements for the Routes 32/6/17 interchange, access to County Route 105, and Route 32 intersection in Harriman and Highland Mills.
Donnery, with legislator Frank Fornario, successfully pushed Orange County to get involved in the controversial Kiryas Joel pipeline with the creation of a $250,000 legal fund to challenge the village's SEQRA process.
Donnery was also instrumental in helping to secure more than 75 acres of foreclosed property from the county, at a minimal cost for the Town of Woodbury for open space.
Because of the sales tax revenue generated by Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, Donnery has described Woodbury is "Orange County's cash cow." But "the additional costs of being the host community to Woodbury Commons are not being fully met," she added. "Woodbury needs additional help."
"I'm not afraid to speak up or take on tough issues," Donnery added in her press release
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Residents speak out on development plan
September 22, 2005
Residents speak out on development plan
By Pete Connolly
For the Times Herald-Record
Woodbury – After months of heated debate and hardball politics, residents once again assembled to sound off on a proposed 451-home development.
At the center of this tempest is Bill Brodsky, president of the Carteret Group Inc. of Pearl River.
His company hopes to build a gated community of 451 houses on what is now 400 acres of woods and meadows off Dunderberg and Nininger roads, near Monroe-Woodbury Middle School and High School. He has asked the board to reduce the minimum lot size to increase the number of homes he can build.
Approximately 80 residents gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building at 67 Commerce Drive South to hammer away on the effects the project would have on the community.
More than a dozen citizens approached the microphone and voiced concerns.
The topics ranged from open space to the effects on the school system, emergency procedures, traffic, environmental impacts on the Woodbury stream and a slew of other issues.
Robert Jackson of Highland Mills referred to the project as "imminent" and thanked the board for its service.
Others were not as receptive.
"This meeting is a mere act by the developer to give more publicity to the project," said Henry "Hank" Sullivan of Central Valley, a strong opponent of the project.
Although the village was never mentioned by name, the central concern for many is still whether Kiryas Joel developers would buy the property and build much denser housing if Brodsky's plans are thwarted, as the developer has warned.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Queenan said Brodsky knows the Planning Board's hands are tied until the Town Board makes its decision.
The Town Board must finish its environmental review of Brodsky's project before it can vote on his zoning request.
The Town Board will meet tomorrow night with its consultants to discuss a final environmental impact statement that Brodsky submitted on Sept. 2.
Residents speak out on development plan
By Pete Connolly
For the Times Herald-Record
Woodbury – After months of heated debate and hardball politics, residents once again assembled to sound off on a proposed 451-home development.
At the center of this tempest is Bill Brodsky, president of the Carteret Group Inc. of Pearl River.
His company hopes to build a gated community of 451 houses on what is now 400 acres of woods and meadows off Dunderberg and Nininger roads, near Monroe-Woodbury Middle School and High School. He has asked the board to reduce the minimum lot size to increase the number of homes he can build.
Approximately 80 residents gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building at 67 Commerce Drive South to hammer away on the effects the project would have on the community.
More than a dozen citizens approached the microphone and voiced concerns.
The topics ranged from open space to the effects on the school system, emergency procedures, traffic, environmental impacts on the Woodbury stream and a slew of other issues.
Robert Jackson of Highland Mills referred to the project as "imminent" and thanked the board for its service.
Others were not as receptive.
"This meeting is a mere act by the developer to give more publicity to the project," said Henry "Hank" Sullivan of Central Valley, a strong opponent of the project.
Although the village was never mentioned by name, the central concern for many is still whether Kiryas Joel developers would buy the property and build much denser housing if Brodsky's plans are thwarted, as the developer has warned.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Queenan said Brodsky knows the Planning Board's hands are tied until the Town Board makes its decision.
The Town Board must finish its environmental review of Brodsky's project before it can vote on his zoning request.
The Town Board will meet tomorrow night with its consultants to discuss a final environmental impact statement that Brodsky submitted on Sept. 2.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
The Bossman show
I did enjoy the radio today on the Jerry Boss show? I will have to think about what was said about many people from orange county. I wish he would take callers on his show because I would have called.It made things a little clearer to me about things/more to come later.
2 more
Chester
Camp La Guardia residents charged
Two New York City homeless men living at the Camp La Guardia shelter were arrested in separate incidents late last week. One was accused of breaking into a school in Monroe, and the other is charged with stealing a car in Chester, police said yesterday.
Village of Monroe police arrested Nkrumah Obadele, 56, about 3:30 a.m. Saturday as he fled from North Main Elementary School with two tape recorders he stole from the building, investigators said. He had smashed a window with a rock to get into the school, according to police.
Obadele, a parolee with an extensive criminal record, was sent to Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail after being arraigned on felony charges of burglary and criminal mischief, along with several misdemeanors. Police say he was paroled in 2003 after serving 17 years for armed robbery.
About five hours before that arrest, Blooming Grove police stopped another shelter resident driving a Toyota SUV he stole from a Cumberland Farm gas station on Route 17M in the Village of Chester, police said. Miguel A. Corniel, 50, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, and sent to jail without bail.
Chris McKenna
Camp La Guardia residents charged
Two New York City homeless men living at the Camp La Guardia shelter were arrested in separate incidents late last week. One was accused of breaking into a school in Monroe, and the other is charged with stealing a car in Chester, police said yesterday.
Village of Monroe police arrested Nkrumah Obadele, 56, about 3:30 a.m. Saturday as he fled from North Main Elementary School with two tape recorders he stole from the building, investigators said. He had smashed a window with a rock to get into the school, according to police.
Obadele, a parolee with an extensive criminal record, was sent to Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail after being arraigned on felony charges of burglary and criminal mischief, along with several misdemeanors. Police say he was paroled in 2003 after serving 17 years for armed robbery.
About five hours before that arrest, Blooming Grove police stopped another shelter resident driving a Toyota SUV he stole from a Cumberland Farm gas station on Route 17M in the Village of Chester, police said. Miguel A. Corniel, 50, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, and sent to jail without bail.
Chris McKenna
451 homes subject of hearing
451 homes subject of hearing
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury – Bill Brodsky's bid to build 451 homes on land zoned for 148 will be given another public hearing tomorrow night, offering residents their latest chance to sound off on the town's dominant political issue.
The Planning Board scheduled the hearing even though the developer is still waiting for the Town Board to vote on a zoning change and several new laws that must be approved for his project to move forward.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Queenan said yesterday that he's holding the hearing because Brodsky requested it and because he wants to "move things along" on his board's busy agenda. He said Brodsky knows the Planning Board can't act on the proposal until the Town Board has decided.
"We can't take any action on it," he said. "The applicant is well aware of that."
The hearing is at 7:30 p.m. at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building at 67 Commerce Drive South, a space large enough for the crowd that might turn out.
That the Planning Board has begun its review before the zoning change is approved is certain to infuriate the project's opponents, who have accused town officials of rushing to approve the development.
But Queenan, who's running for Town Board, said he's neutral on the project and considers the hearing a good opportunity for more public discussion – something opponents of the development should appreciate.
"If I were in their shoes," Queenan said, "I would consider this a good thing."
Brodsky hopes to build a gated community of 451 houses on what is now 400 acres of woods and meadows off Dunderberg and Nininger roads, near Monroe-Woodbury Middle School and High School. He has asked the board to reduce the minimum lot size to increase the number of homes he can build.
Opponents are livid about the potential impact on schools, traffic and taxes. Officials counter that the proposal is worth considering because Brodsky would give the town 100 acres of open space and improve water and sewer systems.
But the central issue for many is whether Kiryas Joel developers would buy the property and build much denser housing if Brodsky's plans are thwarted, as the developer has warned.
Activists who fear that prospect have rallied behind his proposal and the Town Board, while opponents have denounced his warning as an empty threat.
The Town Board must finish its environmental review of Brodsky's project before it can vote on his zoning request.
Thursday night, the board will meet with its consultants to discuss a final environmental impact statement that Brodsky submitted on Sept. 2.
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury – Bill Brodsky's bid to build 451 homes on land zoned for 148 will be given another public hearing tomorrow night, offering residents their latest chance to sound off on the town's dominant political issue.
The Planning Board scheduled the hearing even though the developer is still waiting for the Town Board to vote on a zoning change and several new laws that must be approved for his project to move forward.
Planning Board Chairman Michael Queenan said yesterday that he's holding the hearing because Brodsky requested it and because he wants to "move things along" on his board's busy agenda. He said Brodsky knows the Planning Board can't act on the proposal until the Town Board has decided.
"We can't take any action on it," he said. "The applicant is well aware of that."
The hearing is at 7:30 p.m. at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers building at 67 Commerce Drive South, a space large enough for the crowd that might turn out.
That the Planning Board has begun its review before the zoning change is approved is certain to infuriate the project's opponents, who have accused town officials of rushing to approve the development.
But Queenan, who's running for Town Board, said he's neutral on the project and considers the hearing a good opportunity for more public discussion – something opponents of the development should appreciate.
"If I were in their shoes," Queenan said, "I would consider this a good thing."
Brodsky hopes to build a gated community of 451 houses on what is now 400 acres of woods and meadows off Dunderberg and Nininger roads, near Monroe-Woodbury Middle School and High School. He has asked the board to reduce the minimum lot size to increase the number of homes he can build.
Opponents are livid about the potential impact on schools, traffic and taxes. Officials counter that the proposal is worth considering because Brodsky would give the town 100 acres of open space and improve water and sewer systems.
But the central issue for many is whether Kiryas Joel developers would buy the property and build much denser housing if Brodsky's plans are thwarted, as the developer has warned.
Activists who fear that prospect have rallied behind his proposal and the Town Board, while opponents have denounced his warning as an empty threat.
The Town Board must finish its environmental review of Brodsky's project before it can vote on his zoning request.
Thursday night, the board will meet with its consultants to discuss a final environmental impact statement that Brodsky submitted on Sept. 2.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
And woodbury gets
Over $4 million earmarked for Small Cities funding in the Hudson Valley
Eleven communities in the Hudson Valley are beneficiaries of the state’s latest round of Small Cities funding to help create jobs, provide affordable housing and enhance public services.
Governor George Pataki came to the Northern Dutchess Village of Tivoli to announce the grants, which include $400,000 for the village.
“We’re going to return this street to what it looked like when it was originally built,” said Mayor Marcus Molinaro. “We’re committed to doing it right and doing it comprehensively.”
To the west, the Orange County City of Port Jervis received $400,000 for development of the Cedarwood Center for the Arts and other commercial and residential space, said Mayor Gary Lopriore. “They’re going to renovate the first, second and third floor into affordable apartments and create a few new businesses and employ some new people,” he said.
Other $400,000 grants were presented to the Delaware County Town of Masonville and the Village of Deposit; the Greene County government; the Village or Kiryas Joel in Orange County; the Village of New Square in Rockland County; the Village of Monticello in Sullivan County; and the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County.
The Town of Ulster in Ulster County will receive $266,000 and the Town of Prattsville in Greene County will receive $252,000.
Eleven communities in the Hudson Valley are beneficiaries of the state’s latest round of Small Cities funding to help create jobs, provide affordable housing and enhance public services.
Governor George Pataki came to the Northern Dutchess Village of Tivoli to announce the grants, which include $400,000 for the village.
“We’re going to return this street to what it looked like when it was originally built,” said Mayor Marcus Molinaro. “We’re committed to doing it right and doing it comprehensively.”
To the west, the Orange County City of Port Jervis received $400,000 for development of the Cedarwood Center for the Arts and other commercial and residential space, said Mayor Gary Lopriore. “They’re going to renovate the first, second and third floor into affordable apartments and create a few new businesses and employ some new people,” he said.
Other $400,000 grants were presented to the Delaware County Town of Masonville and the Village of Deposit; the Greene County government; the Village or Kiryas Joel in Orange County; the Village of New Square in Rockland County; the Village of Monticello in Sullivan County; and the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County.
The Town of Ulster in Ulster County will receive $266,000 and the Town of Prattsville in Greene County will receive $252,000.
Central Valley 1909
Station Name: Central Valley, Harriman-Newburgh Br.
* Line: NY, Newburgh-Direct/Greycourt, Pine Isl., Montgomery, Pine Bush
* Milepost: 49 from Jersey City
* State: NY
* Visual Elements: Station (Street) Horse Drawn Vehicle Advertising
* Note:
* Year: 1909?
* Code: F-01 || Box No.: F1
Station Name: Central Valley, Harriman-Newburgh Br.
* Line: NY, Newburgh-Direct/Greycourt, Pine Isl., Montgomery, Pine Bush
* Milepost: 49 from Jersey City
* State: NY
* Visual Elements: Station (Track) Residential Bldg Advertising Adults Children
* Note: Signs: Peter Schuyler Cigar, and others.
* Year: 1909?
* Code: F-02 || Box No.: F1
Chester Inn could become yeshiva
Chester Inn could become yeshiva
By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
jsullivan@th-record.com
Chester – The Inn at Chester, located off Route 17M, is about to turn Kosher.
A Hasidic group from Westchester County is purchasing the motel and contiguous properties and proposing to turn it into a religious boarding school that could take in as many as 600 students from all over the world.
Yeshiva Toras Chemed Inc., a subsidiary of a yeshiva in the Town of Newcastle, is requesting the Town of Chester grant a change of use for the land, located at 1425 Route 17M. The property, consisting of three parcels totaling about 17 acres, is currently approved for use as a motel and banquet facility.
The Hasidic group wants to convert the existing 7,200-square-foot motel into a 16-unit dormitory, as well as build a 24,000-square-foot school and a 9,000-square-foot, 21-unit dormitory on a contiguous parcel as part of an international religious boarding school for students ages 14-18.
If all three parcels are developed, the boarding school could take in as many as 600 students, according to town zoning regulations, said Chester Building Inspector Joseph Mlcoch.
The Yeshiva Farm Settlement, located in the Town of Newcastle, is a nonprofit in good standing. Its subsidiary's proposed school in Chester would likely be eligible for tax exemptions under federal law.
The 2005 property taxes for two of the parcels, owned by Chester resident Colleen Moriarty, are about $11,000. If Yeshiva Toras Chemed opts to remain exempt from property taxes, the potential loss to the Town of Chester would likely run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Chester Planning Board Acting Chairman Barry Sloan said the Hasidic group has not made any requests for tax exemptions. He said there are still zoning issues that must be resolved before the proposal can go forward.
A public hearing on the proposal has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 19.
Burt Dorfman, a Nyack lawyer representing Yeshiva Toras Chemed, said plans to close on the purchase of the motel and contiguous parcels is imminent. Moriarty and her husband, Daniel, who owns the third parcel, could not be reached for comment about the sale.
County property records for 2001 and 2002 show the total assessed values of the three parcels at more than $1 million.
Representatives of the yeshiva submitted a recommendation letter from New Castle Supervisor Janet Wells as part of their application for the change of use. Wells described the residents of the yeshiva as "outstanding and exemplary citizens," whose settlement has existed in New Castle since 1948.
Facilities on the settlement consist of a few dormitories and a limited number of homes for senior graduate students, she said in the letter. Although the group pays taxes to water and sewer districts in the area, it does not pay property taxes, said New Castle's town administrator, Gennaro Faiella.
By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
jsullivan@th-record.com
Chester – The Inn at Chester, located off Route 17M, is about to turn Kosher.
A Hasidic group from Westchester County is purchasing the motel and contiguous properties and proposing to turn it into a religious boarding school that could take in as many as 600 students from all over the world.
Yeshiva Toras Chemed Inc., a subsidiary of a yeshiva in the Town of Newcastle, is requesting the Town of Chester grant a change of use for the land, located at 1425 Route 17M. The property, consisting of three parcels totaling about 17 acres, is currently approved for use as a motel and banquet facility.
The Hasidic group wants to convert the existing 7,200-square-foot motel into a 16-unit dormitory, as well as build a 24,000-square-foot school and a 9,000-square-foot, 21-unit dormitory on a contiguous parcel as part of an international religious boarding school for students ages 14-18.
If all three parcels are developed, the boarding school could take in as many as 600 students, according to town zoning regulations, said Chester Building Inspector Joseph Mlcoch.
The Yeshiva Farm Settlement, located in the Town of Newcastle, is a nonprofit in good standing. Its subsidiary's proposed school in Chester would likely be eligible for tax exemptions under federal law.
The 2005 property taxes for two of the parcels, owned by Chester resident Colleen Moriarty, are about $11,000. If Yeshiva Toras Chemed opts to remain exempt from property taxes, the potential loss to the Town of Chester would likely run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Chester Planning Board Acting Chairman Barry Sloan said the Hasidic group has not made any requests for tax exemptions. He said there are still zoning issues that must be resolved before the proposal can go forward.
A public hearing on the proposal has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 19.
Burt Dorfman, a Nyack lawyer representing Yeshiva Toras Chemed, said plans to close on the purchase of the motel and contiguous parcels is imminent. Moriarty and her husband, Daniel, who owns the third parcel, could not be reached for comment about the sale.
County property records for 2001 and 2002 show the total assessed values of the three parcels at more than $1 million.
Representatives of the yeshiva submitted a recommendation letter from New Castle Supervisor Janet Wells as part of their application for the change of use. Wells described the residents of the yeshiva as "outstanding and exemplary citizens," whose settlement has existed in New Castle since 1948.
Facilities on the settlement consist of a few dormitories and a limited number of homes for senior graduate students, she said in the letter. Although the group pays taxes to water and sewer districts in the area, it does not pay property taxes, said New Castle's town administrator, Gennaro Faiella.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Bruce Lee Fans Aim for Hong Kong Statue
By The Associated PressSat Sep 17,10:31 AM ET
Bruce Lee fans are urging the Hong Kong government to help pay for a bronze statue to mark the actor's 65th birthday in November.
The Bruce Lee Club is planning to erect an 8-foot-2-inch statue of the martial arts legend on the Avenue of Stars, which honors Hong Kong movie stars, said Hew Kuan-yau, a member of the club's committee.
Lee was born in the United States but moved to Hong Kong as a child. Most of his movies were shot and produced in Hong Kong. He died in 1973 at age 32.
His fans voted for the statue to represent a pose from his 1972 movie, "Fist of Fury." Plans call for unveiling the statue on Nov. 27.
Hew said the club has only raised half of the $155,000 needed for the statue's construction, installation, insurance and publicity, and he's appealing to the government for a donation.
"We are not asking them to pay for the total sum, but at least part of it," he said Thursday. "We want people to know about the legend of Bruce Lee."
Friday, September 16, 2005
Now this is a great idea!
The Chronicle > News
Updated: Friday, September 16, 2005
State senator calls for gas-price relief
Cornwall-on-Hudson —Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) has called for a cap on the state sales tax on gas to provide immediate price relief to motorists.
He also called for the use of already accumulated gas taxes to help seniors stay warm this winter.
"Soaring gas prices have also generated an unexpected tax windfall from all the increased sales," he said. "We should be using this extra revenue to help the people who need it most."
This week, the State Senate will propose legislation to roll back the gas tax and replace it with a fixed state-local levy, providing motorists immediate savings up to eight to 10 cents per gallon on fuel purchased at more than $2 per gallon. Unlike the existing tax, the new levy would not rise as prices increase.
The bill would also create a new "Senior Heat" program, which will provide direct, one-time, rebate checks of $100 or more to assist at least 640,000 New York seniors eligible for the Enhanced STAR property tax program, which is available to seniors 65 and older who earn under $65,000 per year.
In Orange County, approximately 11,910 seniors would be eligible for the rebate. The program would be funded with revenues from the gas tax windfall, now projected at $42 million, but estimated to grow to $100 million or more by the end of the fiscal year.
Senator Larkin said the Senate would also soon unveil proposals aimed at reducing New York's long-term dependence on foreign oil.
Updated: Friday, September 16, 2005
State senator calls for gas-price relief
Cornwall-on-Hudson —Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) has called for a cap on the state sales tax on gas to provide immediate price relief to motorists.
He also called for the use of already accumulated gas taxes to help seniors stay warm this winter.
"Soaring gas prices have also generated an unexpected tax windfall from all the increased sales," he said. "We should be using this extra revenue to help the people who need it most."
This week, the State Senate will propose legislation to roll back the gas tax and replace it with a fixed state-local levy, providing motorists immediate savings up to eight to 10 cents per gallon on fuel purchased at more than $2 per gallon. Unlike the existing tax, the new levy would not rise as prices increase.
The bill would also create a new "Senior Heat" program, which will provide direct, one-time, rebate checks of $100 or more to assist at least 640,000 New York seniors eligible for the Enhanced STAR property tax program, which is available to seniors 65 and older who earn under $65,000 per year.
In Orange County, approximately 11,910 seniors would be eligible for the rebate. The program would be funded with revenues from the gas tax windfall, now projected at $42 million, but estimated to grow to $100 million or more by the end of the fiscal year.
Senator Larkin said the Senate would also soon unveil proposals aimed at reducing New York's long-term dependence on foreign oil.
But when will prices drop?
Crude-Oil Prices Slip Below $64 a Barrel
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer1 hour, 34 minutes ago
Crude-oil prices slipped below $64 a barrel Friday after OPEC lowered its demand forecast, supporting the belief that the high retail price of gas is keeping consumers from depleting supplies.
Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery fell $1.25 to $63.50 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Heating oil slumped more than 5 cents to $1.8550 a gallon, and gasoline dropped nearly 8 cents to $1.82 a gallon.
October Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange fell $1.38 to $62.28 a barrel.
"Everyone is lowering their expectations for demand," said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York. "It's taken the urgency out of the market."
Crude-oil prices are less than a dollar off week-ago levels, while heating oil is about 2 percent lower and gasoline is down about 7 percent. Gas prices at the pump are slowly following suit — the average price of a gallon of unleaded gas was $2.89 on Friday, down from $2.92 the day before and the all-time high of $3.06 reached Sept. 5.
In its latest projection, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said world oil-demand growth would fall by between 150,000 to 200,000 barrels a day for the remainder of 2005 and into 2006 as high prices force consumers to reduce purchases of petroleum products.
The 11-member cartel, which pumps a third of the world's daily diet of 84 million barrels of crude, meets Monday to decide on future output.
Oil companies have bought 11 million barrels of crude from the U.S. government's reserve, the Energy Department said Wednesday. That's only about a third of what was offered after Katrina hit, which suggests that the industry is confident that crude supplies are adequate.
Over 56 percent of daily oil production in the Gulf remains blocked — about 35 percent of which is shut in due to problems with onshore infrastructure, the Minerals Management Service said Thursday.
Although crude-oil prices are well below the record of $70.85 briefly hit on Aug. 30, they remain about 50 percent higher than a year ago.
When the American public's buying patterns will return to normal as the Gulf region recovers from Katrina, Silliere said, bullish sentiments could return to the market.
"Demand loss had a lot to do with sticker shock," he said.
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela — an OPEC member and the world's fifth-largest oil exporter — said Thursday at a U.N. summit in New York that prices could rise to $100 per barrel because members of the cartel are pumping at near capacity and oil reserves are running out.
But Julian Lee, energy analyst at the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies, said Chavez's forecast wasn't receiving much credit in the market.
"The $100 barrel price is very much wishful thinking on Venezuela's part," Lee said. He added, "Venezuela does not produce enough to meet its own quotas, so the only upside for the country is high prices."
___
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer1 hour, 34 minutes ago
Crude-oil prices slipped below $64 a barrel Friday after OPEC lowered its demand forecast, supporting the belief that the high retail price of gas is keeping consumers from depleting supplies.
Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery fell $1.25 to $63.50 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Heating oil slumped more than 5 cents to $1.8550 a gallon, and gasoline dropped nearly 8 cents to $1.82 a gallon.
October Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange fell $1.38 to $62.28 a barrel.
"Everyone is lowering their expectations for demand," said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York. "It's taken the urgency out of the market."
Crude-oil prices are less than a dollar off week-ago levels, while heating oil is about 2 percent lower and gasoline is down about 7 percent. Gas prices at the pump are slowly following suit — the average price of a gallon of unleaded gas was $2.89 on Friday, down from $2.92 the day before and the all-time high of $3.06 reached Sept. 5.
In its latest projection, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said world oil-demand growth would fall by between 150,000 to 200,000 barrels a day for the remainder of 2005 and into 2006 as high prices force consumers to reduce purchases of petroleum products.
The 11-member cartel, which pumps a third of the world's daily diet of 84 million barrels of crude, meets Monday to decide on future output.
Oil companies have bought 11 million barrels of crude from the U.S. government's reserve, the Energy Department said Wednesday. That's only about a third of what was offered after Katrina hit, which suggests that the industry is confident that crude supplies are adequate.
Over 56 percent of daily oil production in the Gulf remains blocked — about 35 percent of which is shut in due to problems with onshore infrastructure, the Minerals Management Service said Thursday.
Although crude-oil prices are well below the record of $70.85 briefly hit on Aug. 30, they remain about 50 percent higher than a year ago.
When the American public's buying patterns will return to normal as the Gulf region recovers from Katrina, Silliere said, bullish sentiments could return to the market.
"Demand loss had a lot to do with sticker shock," he said.
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela — an OPEC member and the world's fifth-largest oil exporter — said Thursday at a U.N. summit in New York that prices could rise to $100 per barrel because members of the cartel are pumping at near capacity and oil reserves are running out.
But Julian Lee, energy analyst at the London-based Center for Global Energy Studies, said Chavez's forecast wasn't receiving much credit in the market.
"The $100 barrel price is very much wishful thinking on Venezuela's part," Lee said. He added, "Venezuela does not produce enough to meet its own quotas, so the only upside for the country is high prices."
___
Storm surges hit the pumps
Storm surges hit the pumps
By David Hulse
While Hurricane Katrina rearranged the Gulf Coast landscape last week, it also quickly reshaped the tristate area's gasoline market.
Katrina knocked out much of the Gulf Coast's oil production and refining capacity, which brought a surge of price increases. The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday reported that the average price last week rose 18 percent, or about 46 cents for a gallon of regular gas, bringing the national average to $3.07 a gallon. But our area took a stiffer blow with an average increase of 25 percent, or 68 cents a gallon, for an average of price of $3.35.
The storm upset a long-standing pattern in the Port Jervis, N.Y., and Montague, N.J., Matamoras, Pa., area, as New Jersey price increases outdistanced those in New York and Pennsylvania.
A Montague, N.J., Citgo station, which sits astride the New York state line, usually has long lines of cars even in the best of times. Three large stations on Route 23 in New Jersey, on the New York border, do a brisk business in part because Pennsylvania levies more than 16 cents per gallon in taxes, and New York 28 cents.
But on Tuesday, the lines were gone. Citgo showed a price of $3.30 for a gallon of regular gas, compared to $3.25 per gallon for Mobil, a mile away in Port Jervis, and $3.22 for regular, two miles away at Tri-States Shell in Matamoras.
Store managers in the three Montague stations either could not account for the price disparity or declined comment.
But Debra Vandermark, a clerk at the Cumberland Farms station in Montague, said customers should not blame employees.
"I'm not getting any breaks," she said. "I'm driving 10 miles a day to work, at a job that starts at $7.50 an hour. And I don't know how I'm going to heat my house this winter."
Frank Suleiman, manager of Monroe Gulf on Route 17M, was also frustrated.
With regular gas priced at $3.59 on Tuesday, Suleiman's eight pumps were nearly abandoned. Sales were off by 50 percent, he said. The customers who were still buying were using their credit cards more.
"Many people don't carry $60 or $70 in cash for gas," he said.
Suleiman pays the oil company a service charge on all credit card sales. With a profit margin of only five cents per gallon, he said, the increased use of credit cards means he loses about two cents per gallon.
Some politicians have been talking about launching investigations into price gouging. But Suleiman said that since few active stations can store more than two days' worth of gas, any gouging going on is not being done at the pumps.
"We've been promised a lower price with tomorrow's delivery," he said.
Like most station owners, Suleiman doesn't make his living on gasoline sales. The pumps are there to draw business to his garage. He said his only concern is that prices seem reasonable to his customers.
"If I make zero, I'm happy, if they are," he said.
Vic Singh, a manager at the Mobil Mart on Greenwich Avenue in Goshen told a similar story. Volume is off with the higher prices, as many customers have become accustomed to paying only $15 or $20 at each stop.
Sales in the convenience store have also fallen. "When they're paying more outside, they're less inclined to come inside for coffee and sodas," Singh said.
Tri-States Shell in Matamoras sits right off the end of the westbound exit of I-84. Station employee Jim Riho said there has been more credit card use at this station too, but sales haven't declined by much. Regular neighborhood customers continue to patronize the full-service garage, while weekend travelers, after the initial shock of last week's price hikes, pay the bill and go on their way.
Some station operators said they experienced minor delays in deliveries late last week, but none since then.
The higher prices did not appear to be a turning point for our automobile-based culture. Consumers we spoke to are accepting the new prices with grim resolve.
A woman putting gas into her car at a local station grimaced at the subject. "It's terrible, but I really don't have time to talk about it," she said. "I have to go pick up my daughter."
Paul Linderman of Monroe made a prediction.
"It's never going to get below $3 [per gallon] again," he said. "But people gotta
have it."
By David Hulse
While Hurricane Katrina rearranged the Gulf Coast landscape last week, it also quickly reshaped the tristate area's gasoline market.
Katrina knocked out much of the Gulf Coast's oil production and refining capacity, which brought a surge of price increases. The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday reported that the average price last week rose 18 percent, or about 46 cents for a gallon of regular gas, bringing the national average to $3.07 a gallon. But our area took a stiffer blow with an average increase of 25 percent, or 68 cents a gallon, for an average of price of $3.35.
The storm upset a long-standing pattern in the Port Jervis, N.Y., and Montague, N.J., Matamoras, Pa., area, as New Jersey price increases outdistanced those in New York and Pennsylvania.
A Montague, N.J., Citgo station, which sits astride the New York state line, usually has long lines of cars even in the best of times. Three large stations on Route 23 in New Jersey, on the New York border, do a brisk business in part because Pennsylvania levies more than 16 cents per gallon in taxes, and New York 28 cents.
But on Tuesday, the lines were gone. Citgo showed a price of $3.30 for a gallon of regular gas, compared to $3.25 per gallon for Mobil, a mile away in Port Jervis, and $3.22 for regular, two miles away at Tri-States Shell in Matamoras.
Store managers in the three Montague stations either could not account for the price disparity or declined comment.
But Debra Vandermark, a clerk at the Cumberland Farms station in Montague, said customers should not blame employees.
"I'm not getting any breaks," she said. "I'm driving 10 miles a day to work, at a job that starts at $7.50 an hour. And I don't know how I'm going to heat my house this winter."
Frank Suleiman, manager of Monroe Gulf on Route 17M, was also frustrated.
With regular gas priced at $3.59 on Tuesday, Suleiman's eight pumps were nearly abandoned. Sales were off by 50 percent, he said. The customers who were still buying were using their credit cards more.
"Many people don't carry $60 or $70 in cash for gas," he said.
Suleiman pays the oil company a service charge on all credit card sales. With a profit margin of only five cents per gallon, he said, the increased use of credit cards means he loses about two cents per gallon.
Some politicians have been talking about launching investigations into price gouging. But Suleiman said that since few active stations can store more than two days' worth of gas, any gouging going on is not being done at the pumps.
"We've been promised a lower price with tomorrow's delivery," he said.
Like most station owners, Suleiman doesn't make his living on gasoline sales. The pumps are there to draw business to his garage. He said his only concern is that prices seem reasonable to his customers.
"If I make zero, I'm happy, if they are," he said.
Vic Singh, a manager at the Mobil Mart on Greenwich Avenue in Goshen told a similar story. Volume is off with the higher prices, as many customers have become accustomed to paying only $15 or $20 at each stop.
Sales in the convenience store have also fallen. "When they're paying more outside, they're less inclined to come inside for coffee and sodas," Singh said.
Tri-States Shell in Matamoras sits right off the end of the westbound exit of I-84. Station employee Jim Riho said there has been more credit card use at this station too, but sales haven't declined by much. Regular neighborhood customers continue to patronize the full-service garage, while weekend travelers, after the initial shock of last week's price hikes, pay the bill and go on their way.
Some station operators said they experienced minor delays in deliveries late last week, but none since then.
The higher prices did not appear to be a turning point for our automobile-based culture. Consumers we spoke to are accepting the new prices with grim resolve.
A woman putting gas into her car at a local station grimaced at the subject. "It's terrible, but I really don't have time to talk about it," she said. "I have to go pick up my daughter."
Paul Linderman of Monroe made a prediction.
"It's never going to get below $3 [per gallon] again," he said. "But people gotta
have it."
Thursday, September 15, 2005
When will they drop in Woodbury
Still $3.39 in woodbury and in chester $3.02
Oil Prices Fall Amid Signs of Less Demand
Thursday September 15, 2:15 pm ET
By Laura Carney, Associated Press Writer
Oil Prices Slide Below $65 Per Barrel Amid Signs of Diminishing Demand
NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude-oil prices slipped below $65 a barrel on Thursday as traders took profits amid signs that petroleum supplies were recovering and the recent surge in prices had caused demand to deflate.
"There will be some volatility to the market, but barring any other major disruptions, I think we'll continue to head lower in prices," said Agbeli Ameko, managing partner at Enercast.com.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 89 cents to $64.20 a barrel in midday trading.
Gasoline fell more than 6.23 cents to $1.875 a gallon, while heating oil fell more than 4.24 cents to $1.8825 a gallon.
On London's International Petroleum Exchange, October Brent crude fell 22 cents to $63.15 a barrel. Analysts had expected the October contract to dip ahead of its expiration later Thursday.
In a monthly report published Thursday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2005 world oil-demand forecast by 150,000 barrels a day, saying record high gasoline prices have pushed down forecasts for world oil demand.
World oil demand is forecast to grow 1.4 million barrels a day in 2005 and 1.5 million barrels a day in 2006 -- a downward revision of 200,000 barrels a day in both years, the report said.
These forecasts are likely to be revised again in the coming months as U.S. production recovers from Hurricane Katrina, the report added.
OPEC Acting Secretary General Adnan Shihab-Eldin told Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday that the cartel would consider increasing its production ceiling by almost 2 percent at its meeting Monday.
"OPEC has committed itself to ensure there's adequate supply," Shihab-Eldin said, "so the president has put forward a proposal to add 500,000 barrels a day to the ceiling if the market calls for it."
Shihab-Eldin said the cartel does not intend to alter its 2-year-old policy of allowing global inventories to build. The current ceiling for 10 of its 11 members, excluding Iraq, is 28 million barrels a day.
Also on Thursday, the International Energy Agency said it decided to preserve the 30-day emergency release of oil it had established on Sept. 2 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which will leave its stocks of 60 million barrels of oil and oil products available to the market.
While traders were not surprised at the IEA's decision, it served as further evidence that supplies should be adequate to prevent prices from spiking higher.
"Supply is coming back and people are beginning to feel more confident about oil futures," John Wood, natural gas expert at the Department of Energy, said.
Crude prices spiked nearly $2 following the Department of Energy's weekly petroleum data snapshot on Wednesday, closing at $65.09 a barrel, around 50 percent higher than a year ago.
The report showed that while crude stocks fell 6.6 million barrels to 308.4 million barrels due to lower imports and output lockdowns because of Hurricane Katrina, gasoline stocks grew a surprising 1.9 million barrels to 192 million commercially available barrels.
Associated Press Writer En-Lai Yeoh in Singapore and Edith Balazs in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.
Oil Prices Fall Amid Signs of Less Demand
Thursday September 15, 2:15 pm ET
By Laura Carney, Associated Press Writer
Oil Prices Slide Below $65 Per Barrel Amid Signs of Diminishing Demand
NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude-oil prices slipped below $65 a barrel on Thursday as traders took profits amid signs that petroleum supplies were recovering and the recent surge in prices had caused demand to deflate.
"There will be some volatility to the market, but barring any other major disruptions, I think we'll continue to head lower in prices," said Agbeli Ameko, managing partner at Enercast.com.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 89 cents to $64.20 a barrel in midday trading.
Gasoline fell more than 6.23 cents to $1.875 a gallon, while heating oil fell more than 4.24 cents to $1.8825 a gallon.
On London's International Petroleum Exchange, October Brent crude fell 22 cents to $63.15 a barrel. Analysts had expected the October contract to dip ahead of its expiration later Thursday.
In a monthly report published Thursday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2005 world oil-demand forecast by 150,000 barrels a day, saying record high gasoline prices have pushed down forecasts for world oil demand.
World oil demand is forecast to grow 1.4 million barrels a day in 2005 and 1.5 million barrels a day in 2006 -- a downward revision of 200,000 barrels a day in both years, the report said.
These forecasts are likely to be revised again in the coming months as U.S. production recovers from Hurricane Katrina, the report added.
OPEC Acting Secretary General Adnan Shihab-Eldin told Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday that the cartel would consider increasing its production ceiling by almost 2 percent at its meeting Monday.
"OPEC has committed itself to ensure there's adequate supply," Shihab-Eldin said, "so the president has put forward a proposal to add 500,000 barrels a day to the ceiling if the market calls for it."
Shihab-Eldin said the cartel does not intend to alter its 2-year-old policy of allowing global inventories to build. The current ceiling for 10 of its 11 members, excluding Iraq, is 28 million barrels a day.
Also on Thursday, the International Energy Agency said it decided to preserve the 30-day emergency release of oil it had established on Sept. 2 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which will leave its stocks of 60 million barrels of oil and oil products available to the market.
While traders were not surprised at the IEA's decision, it served as further evidence that supplies should be adequate to prevent prices from spiking higher.
"Supply is coming back and people are beginning to feel more confident about oil futures," John Wood, natural gas expert at the Department of Energy, said.
Crude prices spiked nearly $2 following the Department of Energy's weekly petroleum data snapshot on Wednesday, closing at $65.09 a barrel, around 50 percent higher than a year ago.
The report showed that while crude stocks fell 6.6 million barrels to 308.4 million barrels due to lower imports and output lockdowns because of Hurricane Katrina, gasoline stocks grew a surprising 1.9 million barrels to 192 million commercially available barrels.
Associated Press Writer En-Lai Yeoh in Singapore and Edith Balazs in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.
File a complaint against suspected price gouging
NYS Gasoline Price Stability Task Force
• Compare gasoline prices in your area
The state's price gouging law applies to situations when a gasoline retailer, distributor or producer raises prices dramatically, and without justification, during a natural disaster. To ensure that they are not victims of price gouging, New Yorkers should be alert for prices that are significantly higher than the local average. There is no gouging, however, when a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Katrina) increases costs and those additional costs are passed onto consumers in the form of higher pump prices.
• File a complaint against suspected price gouging
http://
www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gasprices/states/NY.shtml
• Compare gasoline prices in your area
The state's price gouging law applies to situations when a gasoline retailer, distributor or producer raises prices dramatically, and without justification, during a natural disaster. To ensure that they are not victims of price gouging, New Yorkers should be alert for prices that are significantly higher than the local average. There is no gouging, however, when a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Katrina) increases costs and those additional costs are passed onto consumers in the form of higher pump prices.
• File a complaint against suspected price gouging
http://
www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gasprices/states/NY.shtml
I will be getting this one
IPod's Law: The Impossible Is Possible
APPLE says its iPod music player and iTunes music store have 74 and 85 percent of their worldwide markets. But according to Gene Munster, a Piper Jaffray analyst, the end is near. "Nobody can sustain an 80 percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years," Mr. Munster told CNN. "It's pretty much impossible."
Well, he's right about one thing: Apple's market share won't stay at 80 percent. It's about to go up.
If you doubt it, then you haven't yet handled the iPod Nano: a tiny, flat, shiny wafer of powerful sound that Apple unveiled last week. Beware, however: to see one is to want one. If you hope to resist, lash your credit card to your wallet like Odysseus to the mast.
Some music players contain a tiny hard drive, offering huge capacity. Others store music on memory chips, which permit a much more compact design. (This type is known as a flash-memory player, or flash for short.)
What's so clever about the iPod Nano ($249) is that it merges these two approaches. It contains memory chips, so it's dazzlingly tiny - 3.5 by 1.6 by 0.27 inches, to be exact, about the size of a folded playing card and thin enough to slip under a door. Yet because Apple stuffed it with four gigabytes of memory, it holds as much music as some hard-drive players - more than 1,000 songs. (Apple also offers a $199 model with half the capacity.) Because it contains no moving parts, the Nano is less delicate than full-size iPods and virtually skip-proof.
To sweeten the deal, Apple endowed the Nano with a sharp color screen (176 by 132 pixels, 1.5 inches diagonal), the better to show off album-cover art, your photo collection and the iPod's famously clean menu system. The Nano even has room for a click wheel, the scrolling device that makes iPod navigation simple even when you're hunting for a musical needle in a haystack of albums.
The resulting slab is sweet, small and shiny, a comfortable fit in the middle third of your palm. It weighs so little (1.5 ounces), you don't have to worry about dropping it onto pavement; even if it flies from your hands, the earbud cord catches it like a leash. Once again, Apple has mastered a lesson that its rivals seem unable to absorb: that the three most important features in a personal music player are style, style and style.
Apple is so confident in the Nano's appeal, in fact, that it has decided to make room in the product line by discontinuing the world's best-selling player, the iPod Mini. That's a gutsy move, because the Nano isn't really the same thing.
THE Mini, for example, was available in four metallic colors; the Nano comes only in shiny black or white. (Both have the traditional fingerprint-prone chrome back panel. And both come with earbuds in the traditional status-symbol color, which PC Magazine wittily calls "mug-me white.") The Mini held much more music, too; $200 for four gigabytes of storage instead of two, for example.
The Nano's battery doesn't last as long, either: 14 hours instead of the Mini's 18, and rival flash players' batteries run much longer still. And the Nano can't connect to your Mac or PC with a FireWire cable, as all previous iPods could (except the Shuffle). Instead, the Nano comes with a snow-white U.S.B. cable.
If your computer has a U.S.B. 2.0 jack, filling up your Nano takes about the same time as a FireWire cable would; for example, 700 songs and 1,200 photos take about nine minutes to transfer from your computer on the very first sync. But if your computer has only a regular U.S.B. 1.1 connector (and this includes Macs that are only two years old), you could practically sing your songs in the time it takes to transfer them to the Nano.
Finally, as much as the Nano may look like a scale model of the original iPod, it lacks some familiar features. It can display photos on its postage-stamp screen, but can't connect to a TV for showing off to the masses, as the big iPods can. None of the current iPod microphones, remote controls or digital camera photo-transfer adapters work on the Nano, which lacks the necessary jacks. (The Nano does have a standard iPod docking connector, however, so you can still use iPod speakers, chargers and some FM-radio car transmitters.)
But even though Apple taketh away, Apple also giveth; the Nano offers a raft of features never before seen in an iPod. A world clock shows you what time it is in several cities of your choice. The elegant new digital stopwatch, complete with lap counter, is a natural enhancement on a gadget whose fan club includes an awful lot of joggers and gym members. And if you've caught nosy co-workers toying with your 'Pod once too often, you can now lock them out with a four-digit password.
Like other iPods, the new one is designed to synchronize its audio material with the free iTunes jukebox software for Mac and Windows; it handles songs copied from your own CD collection, songs you've bought from Apple's online music store, audio books from Audible.com, and any of 15,000 free weekly podcasts (wildly uneven, and wildly entertaining, amateur radio shows). But only the Nano identifies, with a blue dot, the podcasts you haven't yet listened to, and only the Nano can display the lyrics of whatever song is now playing. (That trick requires you to install the new 5.0 version of iTunes and paste the lyrics in yourself.)
Most iPods have long been able to keep your address book and calendar synched with your computer - if it's a Mac. But thanks to iTunes 5.0, the Nano and other iPods can import this information automatically from Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express on a Windows PC.
Some critics have complained that the Nano's headphone jack is on the bottom edge, not the top. That particular invention's mother may have been necessity - as it is, you wonder how Apple crammed so many components into a machine the size of a gum wrapper - but it turns out to be a blessing in a couple of situations.
First, when you extract the iPod from your pocket, you no longer have to flip it around to see its screen and controls. Second, Apple offers a pricey but extremely convenient accessory called Lanyard Headphones ($39): a simple, tangle-free way to both wear and hear your iPod while you walk, work out or drive. Because the Nano hangs upside-down from the lanyard, the text on the screen is upright when you glance down at your stomach.
The Nano will not come as good news to the growing membership of the curmudgeon club: people who resent the iPod's success (22 million sold so far) and its trendiness. They're fond of declaring that other players offer more features for less money.
In this case, however, they'll have a tough time. Want to know what happens when you pit other players against the Nano, mano a mano? You give up, because no other flash player on the market offers anything close to the Nano's concept or capacity.
Two-gigabyte flash players are rare as hen's teeth in the United States, and rival four-gigabyte models are nonexistent (one gigabyte is generally the maximum). Color screens are uncommon on flash players, too; Samsung and iRiver each make one, but they're a lot bigger, uglier and less capacious.
So are the analysts right that the sun will soon set on the iPod Age? The truth is, the iPod has faced stiff competition from some of the industry's best-known companies since the day it was introduced. Yet even after four years, all of Dell's horses and all Sony's men haven't made a dent in the iPod's dominance. And with the introduction of gorgeous, functional and elegant iPod Nano, that's not about to change.
We need Jet Blue
Two airlines file Chapter 11; Jet Blue gets first of new breed of jet
Northwest Airlines Corporation yesterday announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Delta Air Lines announced that to address its financial challenges and support its ongoing efforts to become a simpler, more efficient and cost-effective airline, the company and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Northwest flies from Stewart Airport to Detroit and Delta recently ended its daily flights from Newburgh to Cincinnati.
JetBlue Airways, meanwhile, this week took possession of its first Embraer 190 regional jet. The new breed of jet, which previously was built with 50 seats, has now been enlarged to 100 seats.
JetBlue expects to put eight of the new planes in service by the end of the year and 18 more next year.
Senator Charles Schumer has been saying that once the airline gets those new planes, they would take a look at servicing Stewart Airport. Yesterday, he said he is continuing to urge them to come to the Hudson Valley.
“They are in the process of making their decisions and we are involved in lobbying them, but they haven’t given us any answers yet,” he said. The senator said it will take some time because the airline cannot add service with just one new regional jet in place.
Northwest Airlines Corporation yesterday announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Delta Air Lines announced that to address its financial challenges and support its ongoing efforts to become a simpler, more efficient and cost-effective airline, the company and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Northwest flies from Stewart Airport to Detroit and Delta recently ended its daily flights from Newburgh to Cincinnati.
JetBlue Airways, meanwhile, this week took possession of its first Embraer 190 regional jet. The new breed of jet, which previously was built with 50 seats, has now been enlarged to 100 seats.
JetBlue expects to put eight of the new planes in service by the end of the year and 18 more next year.
Senator Charles Schumer has been saying that once the airline gets those new planes, they would take a look at servicing Stewart Airport. Yesterday, he said he is continuing to urge them to come to the Hudson Valley.
“They are in the process of making their decisions and we are involved in lobbying them, but they haven’t given us any answers yet,” he said. The senator said it will take some time because the airline cannot add service with just one new regional jet in place.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Judge: School Pledge Is Unconstitutional
Judge: School Pledge Is Unconstitutional
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 6 minutes ago
A federal judge declared the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday, a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments.
The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words "under God" was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."
Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.
The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of.
Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karlton said those families have the right to sue.
Newdow hopes that will make it more likely the merits of his case will be addressed by the high court.
"All it has to do is put the pledge as it was before, and say that we are one nation, indivisible, instead of dividing us on religious basis," Newdow told The Associated Press.
"Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, 'We are one nation that denies God exists,'" Newdow said.
"I think that everybody would not be sitting here saying, 'Oh, what harm is that.' They'd be furious. And that's exactly what goes on against atheists. And it shouldn't."
Karlton, ruling in Sacramento, said he would sign a restraining order preventing the recitation of the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts in Sacramento County, where the plaintiffs' children attend.
The order would not extend beyond those districts unless it is affirmed by the 9th Circuit, in which case it could apply to nine western states, or the Supreme Court, which would apply to all states.
The decision sets up another showdown over the pledge in schools, at a time when the makeup of the Supreme Court is in flux.
Wednesday's ruling comes as Supreme Court nominee John Roberts faces day three of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He would succeed the late William H. Rehnquist as chief justice.
In July, Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire when a successor is confirmed.
The Becket Fund, a religious rights group that is a party to the case, said it would immediately appeal the case to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court does not change its precedent, the group would go to the Supreme Court.
"It's a way to get this issue to the Supreme Court for a final decision to be made," said fund attorney Jared Leland.
The decisions by Karlton and the 9th Circuit conflict with an August opinion by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. That court upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools lead daily Pledge of Allegiance recitation, which is similar to the requirement in California.
A three-judge panel of that circuit ruled that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not a religious affirmation similar to a prayer.
"Undoubtedly, the pledge contains a religious phrase, and it is demeaning to persons of any faith to assert that the words `under God' contain no religious significance," Judge Karen Williams wrote for the 4th Circuit. "The inclusion of those two words, however, does not alter the nature of the pledge as a patriotic activity."
Karlton, appointed to the Sacramento bench in 1979 by President Carter, wrote that the case concerned "the ongoing struggle as to the role of religion in the civil life of this nation" and added that his opinion "will satisfy no one involved in that debate."
Karlton dismissed claims that the 1954 Congressional legislation inserting the words "under God" was unconstitutional. If his ruling stands, he reasoned that the school children and their parents in the case would not be harmed by the phrase because they would no longer have to recite it at school.
Terence Cassidy, a lawyer representing the school districts, said he was reviewing the opinion and was not immediately prepared to comment.
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 6 minutes ago
A federal judge declared the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday, a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments.
The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words "under God" was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."
Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.
The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of.
Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karlton said those families have the right to sue.
Newdow hopes that will make it more likely the merits of his case will be addressed by the high court.
"All it has to do is put the pledge as it was before, and say that we are one nation, indivisible, instead of dividing us on religious basis," Newdow told The Associated Press.
"Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, 'We are one nation that denies God exists,'" Newdow said.
"I think that everybody would not be sitting here saying, 'Oh, what harm is that.' They'd be furious. And that's exactly what goes on against atheists. And it shouldn't."
Karlton, ruling in Sacramento, said he would sign a restraining order preventing the recitation of the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts in Sacramento County, where the plaintiffs' children attend.
The order would not extend beyond those districts unless it is affirmed by the 9th Circuit, in which case it could apply to nine western states, or the Supreme Court, which would apply to all states.
The decision sets up another showdown over the pledge in schools, at a time when the makeup of the Supreme Court is in flux.
Wednesday's ruling comes as Supreme Court nominee John Roberts faces day three of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He would succeed the late William H. Rehnquist as chief justice.
In July, Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire when a successor is confirmed.
The Becket Fund, a religious rights group that is a party to the case, said it would immediately appeal the case to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court does not change its precedent, the group would go to the Supreme Court.
"It's a way to get this issue to the Supreme Court for a final decision to be made," said fund attorney Jared Leland.
The decisions by Karlton and the 9th Circuit conflict with an August opinion by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. That court upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools lead daily Pledge of Allegiance recitation, which is similar to the requirement in California.
A three-judge panel of that circuit ruled that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not a religious affirmation similar to a prayer.
"Undoubtedly, the pledge contains a religious phrase, and it is demeaning to persons of any faith to assert that the words `under God' contain no religious significance," Judge Karen Williams wrote for the 4th Circuit. "The inclusion of those two words, however, does not alter the nature of the pledge as a patriotic activity."
Karlton, appointed to the Sacramento bench in 1979 by President Carter, wrote that the case concerned "the ongoing struggle as to the role of religion in the civil life of this nation" and added that his opinion "will satisfy no one involved in that debate."
Karlton dismissed claims that the 1954 Congressional legislation inserting the words "under God" was unconstitutional. If his ruling stands, he reasoned that the school children and their parents in the case would not be harmed by the phrase because they would no longer have to recite it at school.
Terence Cassidy, a lawyer representing the school districts, said he was reviewing the opinion and was not immediately prepared to comment.
No saving Monroe
Save Monroe fails to take major party ballot lines
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Monroe – Two Republican councilmen and a Democratic supervisor candidate won primaries in Monroe yesterday, defeating three Save Monroe candidates who challenged them for their major-party ballot lines in the Nov. 8 election.
Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin beat Theresa Budich and Kathy Parrella of Save Monroe in a Republican primary, while Alicia Vaccaro – chosen by the Democrats to run for supervisor – trounced Save Monroe leader Bob Purdy in a contest for the Democratic slot.
Weeks and Martin won despite unusually low turnout in Kiryas Joel, a bloc-voting village with enough electoral muscle to have thrown well over 2,000 votes behind the incumbents.
Indeed, turnout was low throughout town: Roughly 1,460, or 20 percent, of the town's 7,400 Republicans took part in that primary, while almost 1,020, or 20 percent, of Monroe's 5,100 registered Democrats voted.
Since all six primary candidates had minor-party ballot lines to fall back on, what was at stake yesterday was the stature and party-line votes that come with running on a major-party line in November.
The Save Monroe candidates will be on the Nov. 8 ballot on the Conservative Party line.
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Monroe – Two Republican councilmen and a Democratic supervisor candidate won primaries in Monroe yesterday, defeating three Save Monroe candidates who challenged them for their major-party ballot lines in the Nov. 8 election.
Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin beat Theresa Budich and Kathy Parrella of Save Monroe in a Republican primary, while Alicia Vaccaro – chosen by the Democrats to run for supervisor – trounced Save Monroe leader Bob Purdy in a contest for the Democratic slot.
Weeks and Martin won despite unusually low turnout in Kiryas Joel, a bloc-voting village with enough electoral muscle to have thrown well over 2,000 votes behind the incumbents.
Indeed, turnout was low throughout town: Roughly 1,460, or 20 percent, of the town's 7,400 Republicans took part in that primary, while almost 1,020, or 20 percent, of Monroe's 5,100 registered Democrats voted.
Since all six primary candidates had minor-party ballot lines to fall back on, what was at stake yesterday was the stature and party-line votes that come with running on a major-party line in November.
The Save Monroe candidates will be on the Nov. 8 ballot on the Conservative Party line.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Just one more arrested and the camp stays open
September 13, 2005
Monroe
Camp La Guardia resident arrested
State police arrested a 46-year-old Camp La Guardia man yesterday after he reportedly tried to use a fake check to buy CD players, cigarettes and personal hygiene items from a Wal-Mart.
Darryl Kelley, who has lived at the Chester men's homeless shelter for a year, used a forged Pennsylvania drivers license while trying to use the counterfeit check, state police said.
Police said they also found a small amount of crack cocaine in a pipe.
Kelley was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony; and second-degree criminal impersonation, attempted petty larceny, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanors.
He was being held in Orange County Jail on $3,000 cash bail.
Monroe
Camp La Guardia resident arrested
State police arrested a 46-year-old Camp La Guardia man yesterday after he reportedly tried to use a fake check to buy CD players, cigarettes and personal hygiene items from a Wal-Mart.
Darryl Kelley, who has lived at the Chester men's homeless shelter for a year, used a forged Pennsylvania drivers license while trying to use the counterfeit check, state police said.
Police said they also found a small amount of crack cocaine in a pipe.
Kelley was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony; and second-degree criminal impersonation, attempted petty larceny, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanors.
He was being held in Orange County Jail on $3,000 cash bail.
Today's the day!
Woodbury
Council (2 seats, 4-year term) – Republican
Geraldine Gianzero*
Michael F. Queenan
Henry J. Sullivan
Council (2 seats, 4-year term) – Republican
Geraldine Gianzero*
Michael F. Queenan
Henry J. Sullivan
Diana's secret government
September 13, 2005
Diana's secret government
The Orange County executive is displaying a disturbing disregard for public trust.
Orange County Executive Edward Diana campaigned for that office in 2001 as a man of the people. A small businessman and teacher who understood the pressures on taxpayers and local governments and the need for trust between them and county government. A county legislator who recognized the importance of a respectful working relationship between the legislative and executive branches of county government.
Where has that Ed Diana gone? The past couple of weeks have offered three examples of an elected official behaving like a government unto himself. Accountable to no one. More emperor than executive.
- The Camp La Guardia secrets: Diana met in late August with top officials from New York City to discuss continuing problems at the city's homeless shelter for men. Supervisors from the towns of Chester and Blooming Grove and the mayor of the Village of Chester had asked to be included in the meeting since they represent county residents most affected by the shelter and the way it is run. Their request was denied.
But Diana added injury to insult by refusing to reveal anything that was discussed at the meeting. Now, this was a meeting of public officials from Orange County and New York City (including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and the city's commissioner of homeless services). They discussed, we presume, the way millions of public tax dollars are being spent and persistent Orange County taxpayer complaints that the shelter's managers were not living up to an agreement Orange County had won by suing the city.
All Diana said after the meeting, in a prepared press release, is, "We had a productive meeting … I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
That might generously be described as a crock. Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan was less generous, saying, "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan noted that he and the other local officials helped formulate the agreement on who is admitted to the camp and how it should be run and had been talking with city officials about it for years. What neighbors of the camp have been pressing for is an independent monitor to assess the way Goodwill is running it. Will they get it? Diana's not talking.
- The police academy end run. County legislators – Diana's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats – were livid with Diana for ramming through a county police academy without bothering to ask them about it. Seeing as they're supposed to approve funding for county programs, they had a good point.
Legislature Chairman Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, also noted that the police academy represented a policy shift and legislators were upset about "being left in the dark."
The training academy had been discussed with legislators and support slowly grew after initial skepticism. But, although Diana never got a vote of approval from the legislature, the Law Enforcement Training Institute opened with an official ceremony at the county's Fire Training Center.
The money came from funds allocated to the Sheriff's Office, and Diana said that's why he didn't think legislators needed to approve the project. As a former majority leader of that body, he knows better. He did apologize for ignoring his legislative colleagues, but others noted he had done the same thing when he moved to put a sheriff's boat on patrol in the Hudson River and create an equestian center at the county park. Keeping legisaltors in the dark on county spending is not the way to maintain a harmonious working arrangment.
- The blackout on Homeland Security funds. When this newspaper asked emergency management officials in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties to detail what they had done with federal Homeland Security grants, only Orange officials balked. Only after the Record appealed under the Freedom of Information act, did Orange comply with the request, by providing 158 pages, with more blacked out than readable.
This is county government being accountable to the people? On fighting terrrorism no less? County officials said their concern was "the safety of the public and first responders." What, Sullivan and Ulster officials don't have the same concerns?
People have a right to know how their money is being spent and that can be done without revealing the most sensitive items.
All we know is Orange County got $650,000 from the federal government to improve defenses against terrorism. If you want to know how that money was spent, call the emperor.
Diana's secret government
The Orange County executive is displaying a disturbing disregard for public trust.
Orange County Executive Edward Diana campaigned for that office in 2001 as a man of the people. A small businessman and teacher who understood the pressures on taxpayers and local governments and the need for trust between them and county government. A county legislator who recognized the importance of a respectful working relationship between the legislative and executive branches of county government.
Where has that Ed Diana gone? The past couple of weeks have offered three examples of an elected official behaving like a government unto himself. Accountable to no one. More emperor than executive.
- The Camp La Guardia secrets: Diana met in late August with top officials from New York City to discuss continuing problems at the city's homeless shelter for men. Supervisors from the towns of Chester and Blooming Grove and the mayor of the Village of Chester had asked to be included in the meeting since they represent county residents most affected by the shelter and the way it is run. Their request was denied.
But Diana added injury to insult by refusing to reveal anything that was discussed at the meeting. Now, this was a meeting of public officials from Orange County and New York City (including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and the city's commissioner of homeless services). They discussed, we presume, the way millions of public tax dollars are being spent and persistent Orange County taxpayer complaints that the shelter's managers were not living up to an agreement Orange County had won by suing the city.
All Diana said after the meeting, in a prepared press release, is, "We had a productive meeting … I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
That might generously be described as a crock. Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan was less generous, saying, "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan noted that he and the other local officials helped formulate the agreement on who is admitted to the camp and how it should be run and had been talking with city officials about it for years. What neighbors of the camp have been pressing for is an independent monitor to assess the way Goodwill is running it. Will they get it? Diana's not talking.
- The police academy end run. County legislators – Diana's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats – were livid with Diana for ramming through a county police academy without bothering to ask them about it. Seeing as they're supposed to approve funding for county programs, they had a good point.
Legislature Chairman Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, also noted that the police academy represented a policy shift and legislators were upset about "being left in the dark."
The training academy had been discussed with legislators and support slowly grew after initial skepticism. But, although Diana never got a vote of approval from the legislature, the Law Enforcement Training Institute opened with an official ceremony at the county's Fire Training Center.
The money came from funds allocated to the Sheriff's Office, and Diana said that's why he didn't think legislators needed to approve the project. As a former majority leader of that body, he knows better. He did apologize for ignoring his legislative colleagues, but others noted he had done the same thing when he moved to put a sheriff's boat on patrol in the Hudson River and create an equestian center at the county park. Keeping legisaltors in the dark on county spending is not the way to maintain a harmonious working arrangment.
- The blackout on Homeland Security funds. When this newspaper asked emergency management officials in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties to detail what they had done with federal Homeland Security grants, only Orange officials balked. Only after the Record appealed under the Freedom of Information act, did Orange comply with the request, by providing 158 pages, with more blacked out than readable.
This is county government being accountable to the people? On fighting terrrorism no less? County officials said their concern was "the safety of the public and first responders." What, Sullivan and Ulster officials don't have the same concerns?
People have a right to know how their money is being spent and that can be done without revealing the most sensitive items.
All we know is Orange County got $650,000 from the federal government to improve defenses against terrorism. If you want to know how that money was spent, call the emperor.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Friday, September 09, 2005
Supports Sullivan
Supports Sullivan
I am writing in support of Henry "Hank" Sullivan, who is running for the Woodbury Town Board. He has long been a voice of the public, attending as many Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings as he can, speaking up on issues that affect the quality of life of all town residents. His love for the town he calls home has prompted him to seek a seat on the board to give a voice to the people of Woodbury.
There are many important issues facing our community, especially those concerning growth, planning and zoning. Sullivan has voiced strong opposition to the proposed local laws that aim to lower zoning requirements in some areas of town to benefit developers looking to cash in on local fears of annexation.
As a Town Board member, Sullivan will not only speak out for the people of Woodbury but also will listen so that the voices of all residents will be heard.
Please join me in voting for Henry "Hank" Sullivan on primary day, Sept. 13, and on Election Day, Nov. 8. To save Woodbury, all our voices must be heard!
Buddy Mickolajczyk
Highland Mills
I am writing in support of Henry "Hank" Sullivan, who is running for the Woodbury Town Board. He has long been a voice of the public, attending as many Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings as he can, speaking up on issues that affect the quality of life of all town residents. His love for the town he calls home has prompted him to seek a seat on the board to give a voice to the people of Woodbury.
There are many important issues facing our community, especially those concerning growth, planning and zoning. Sullivan has voiced strong opposition to the proposed local laws that aim to lower zoning requirements in some areas of town to benefit developers looking to cash in on local fears of annexation.
As a Town Board member, Sullivan will not only speak out for the people of Woodbury but also will listen so that the voices of all residents will be heard.
Please join me in voting for Henry "Hank" Sullivan on primary day, Sept. 13, and on Election Day, Nov. 8. To save Woodbury, all our voices must be heard!
Buddy Mickolajczyk
Highland Mills
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Local cops head to New Orleans
September 06, 2005
Local cops head to New Orleans
By Dave Richardson
Times Herald-Record
drichardson@th-record.com
Woodbury – Five local police officers are heading to devastated New Orleans to help bring law and order back to the city.
The five men are all members of the Regional Entry and Containment Team, a 20-officer, SWAT team-like quick reaction force trained to deal with the worst, most dangerous crimes. Led by Woodbury police Sgt. Cliff Weeks, the team, traveling in a pair of motor homes, should be in Covington, La., on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, by tonight for a 10- to 14-day deployment.
"What exact mission we'll be assigned, we don't know, but they wanted us there as a tactical unit," Weeks said. "It seems like the right thing to do, so we're doing it."
The team will deploy with its weapons and equipment, along with two boats, and will be self-sufficient, Weeks said. He said an outpouring of support from local merchants and the community helped make the trip possible.
Wal-Mart offered donations of food, insect repellent and other goods. Woodbury Common stores Timberland and the North Face donated boots, backpacks and other equipment, and the mall's management rallied other stores to help the team, Weeks said.
Weeks will be leading Woodbury Officers Kevin Phillips, Chad Quackenbush and John Bourke, and Harriman police Sgt. Jeff Mahran on the mission.
Local cops head to New Orleans
By Dave Richardson
Times Herald-Record
drichardson@th-record.com
Woodbury – Five local police officers are heading to devastated New Orleans to help bring law and order back to the city.
The five men are all members of the Regional Entry and Containment Team, a 20-officer, SWAT team-like quick reaction force trained to deal with the worst, most dangerous crimes. Led by Woodbury police Sgt. Cliff Weeks, the team, traveling in a pair of motor homes, should be in Covington, La., on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, by tonight for a 10- to 14-day deployment.
"What exact mission we'll be assigned, we don't know, but they wanted us there as a tactical unit," Weeks said. "It seems like the right thing to do, so we're doing it."
The team will deploy with its weapons and equipment, along with two boats, and will be self-sufficient, Weeks said. He said an outpouring of support from local merchants and the community helped make the trip possible.
Wal-Mart offered donations of food, insect repellent and other goods. Woodbury Common stores Timberland and the North Face donated boots, backpacks and other equipment, and the mall's management rallied other stores to help the team, Weeks said.
Weeks will be leading Woodbury Officers Kevin Phillips, Chad Quackenbush and John Bourke, and Harriman police Sgt. Jeff Mahran on the mission.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Save Woodbury?
Save Woodbury?
I keep seeing signs around town saying Save Woodbury and I started to think about all the things we can save Woodbury from. What we will save the town is a Vision and a Mission statement just like in the corporate world, that’s what we do every year or two. But then again a vision is a comprehensive plan or a master plan and well we all know the story on that. But let’s not dwell on that but look at the past and see how we got here today. We need to look back at the Town, zoning and planning boards of the 1980’s and 90’s who put us in this “save mode”. But let’s not forget the consultants who we paid thousand and thousands of dollars only to tell us to down zone then up zone and now telling us to down zone again. What we really need to Save Woodbury is Just start over, work together with people who live here not who make long term planning decisions and don’t have to live here. Rather then save lets get better planning with a long term vision.
I keep seeing signs around town saying Save Woodbury and I started to think about all the things we can save Woodbury from. What we will save the town is a Vision and a Mission statement just like in the corporate world, that’s what we do every year or two. But then again a vision is a comprehensive plan or a master plan and well we all know the story on that. But let’s not dwell on that but look at the past and see how we got here today. We need to look back at the Town, zoning and planning boards of the 1980’s and 90’s who put us in this “save mode”. But let’s not forget the consultants who we paid thousand and thousands of dollars only to tell us to down zone then up zone and now telling us to down zone again. What we really need to Save Woodbury is Just start over, work together with people who live here not who make long term planning decisions and don’t have to live here. Rather then save lets get better planning with a long term vision.
Housing Slowdown Could Spell Trouble
Housing Slowdown Could Spell Trouble By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Mon Sep 5, 5:42 PM ET
The nation's red-hot housing market may finally be nearing its peak, meaning the end of double-digit annual percentage price gains for homeowners and potential trouble for more recent purchasers who stretched to buy.
That's the assessment of economists, who concede they have been forecasting a cooldown in housing for some time only to be confounded as sales and prices continued to boom.
Sales have certainly been sizzling this year, putting the country on track for a fifth straight year of record purchases of new and existing homes.
Home prices have been surging as well. The government reported last week that prices jumped by 13.4 percent in the April-June quarter this year, compared with the same period a year ago, the biggest increase in 25 years. That is more than double the average annual price gains of 6 percent recorded over the past three decades.
But scattered among the statistics are some signs of a slowdown. In July, sales of existing homes fell by 2.6 percent even though the nationwide median price rose to a record $218,000.
Homes in some areas are staying on the market longer before they sell and the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that its index of demand for home mortgages now stands 11 percent below a June peak.
And none other than Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that "the housing boom will inevitably simmer down" with prices slowing and possibly even falling.
The issue of how much of a slowdown will occur and whether home prices will fall or just not rise at double-digit rates will depend to large extent on the course of interest rates in coming months.
"I think what we have in store is a slow deflating of the housing bubble, not a bursting of the bubble," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. "But if mortgage rates rise more sharply than I am expecting, then the downturn in housing could be more severe."
The devastation from Hurricane Katrina could turn out to help the housing industry, mainly through falling interest rates. Investors pushed rates lower this week in anticipation that Katrina and the resulting surge in energy prices will act as a drag on economic growth and could persuade the Federal Reserve to pause in its 14-month campaign to push rates higher. As a result, rates on 30-year mortgages dipped to 5.71 percent, down from a high this year of 6.04 percent set in late March.
David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said rebuilding from Katrina's devastation probably will not have much impact on the overall housing market since residential building permits for all of Louisiana and Mississippi last year amounted to just 1.8 percent of the national total.
But analysts are forecasting that housing sales will begin to decline from record levels by the end of this year and into 2006. The slowing sales pace is expected to end the super-sized price gains many parts of the country have experienced.
Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland, said he believes 53 metropolitan areas, representing 31 percent of the country's housing market, were "extremely overvalued and confront a high risk of a future price correction."
And what might that price correction look like? DeKaser said over the past 20 years, 64 cities have seen home price declines of 10 percent or more over a period of two years. But all of those declines occurred along with a weak overall economy, something not present now.
But if rising energy prices spread into more widespread inflation pressures and the Fed feels it needs to raise interest rates more quickly, then analysts said housing could be in for a rougher landing.
Those most vulnerable in such a situation would be homeowners who took advantage of the growing popularity of various types of new mortgage products such as interest-only loans. They allow buyers to pay only interest initially while charging a lower interest rate that remains fixed for a certain period, often the first three years of the loan.
The problem comes when the introductory period ends. Then holders of these loans are faced with a double-payment shock. The interest rate they must pay is likely to rise and they will have to make not only interest payments but also begin paying back the principal.
Homeowners with already stretched finances may find themselves unable to make the new monthly payments, forcing them either to sell their homes or default on their mortgages. Either development would dump more supply into a slowing market and thus further depress prices.
But many analysts don't believe that doomsday scenario will come into play to any significant extent unless the economy seriously weakens. They note that even with the growing popularity of interest-only loans and various other types of mortgages that feature low down payments, the number of loans going into delinquency has been falling.
Some see a slowdown in home sales as beneficial
"If the frenzied buying levels off, the market will become more balanced between supply and demand" and help to ease price pressures, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist at the National Association of Realtors.
"This will certainly not be like the stock market bust of 2000. We are just going from a rapid pace to a more healthy pace," he said.
___
With home prices in the stratosphere, many buyers have been forced into more exotic types of mortgages to be able to afford to buy a home. Here is some advice from housing experts on what people should consider in the current environment.
BUY OR NOT: Some people have hesitated to purchase a home, especially in the hottest sales areas, for fear they could buy at the top only to see home prices start to decline. Analysts say it is very hard to time the market. If you need to buy because you are being relocated and you plan to be in the new home for several years, the advice is to go ahead and buy. The chances are that even if home prices do fall for a year or two, they will begin rising and you will recoup your investment when you sell.
REFINANCE: For people who now have adjustable rate mortgages, the advice is to consider refinancing to a fixed-rate mortgage. Mortgage rates have been at the lowest levels in more than four decades for an extended period of time. The blow to the economy from Hurricane Katrina and surging energy prices may keep rates low for a while longer. But the expectation is that rates will eventually start rising again and could be above 7 percent by the end of 2006. Moving to a fixed rate would protect against seeing a sharp jump in a low introductory rate. If the adjustable rate mortgage is also an interest-only mortgage, there will be a second payment shock when the homeowner has to start paying interest and the principal of the loan.
INVESTORS: People who have been playing the hot real estate market by buying homes only to turn around and resell them at a profit should reconsider that approach. That strategy could prove dangerous if, as expected, home sales retreat from their current record highs and prices stop rising at double-digit rates.
OTHER IDEAS: People who find they are still priced out of a particular area might consider moving to a smaller house or farther out. For people 62 or older and in need of cash, they might consider taking out a reverse mortgage that would allow them to borrow against the equity in their home and never repay the loan as long as they live in the house.
Mon Sep 5, 5:42 PM ET
The nation's red-hot housing market may finally be nearing its peak, meaning the end of double-digit annual percentage price gains for homeowners and potential trouble for more recent purchasers who stretched to buy.
That's the assessment of economists, who concede they have been forecasting a cooldown in housing for some time only to be confounded as sales and prices continued to boom.
Sales have certainly been sizzling this year, putting the country on track for a fifth straight year of record purchases of new and existing homes.
Home prices have been surging as well. The government reported last week that prices jumped by 13.4 percent in the April-June quarter this year, compared with the same period a year ago, the biggest increase in 25 years. That is more than double the average annual price gains of 6 percent recorded over the past three decades.
But scattered among the statistics are some signs of a slowdown. In July, sales of existing homes fell by 2.6 percent even though the nationwide median price rose to a record $218,000.
Homes in some areas are staying on the market longer before they sell and the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that its index of demand for home mortgages now stands 11 percent below a June peak.
And none other than Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that "the housing boom will inevitably simmer down" with prices slowing and possibly even falling.
The issue of how much of a slowdown will occur and whether home prices will fall or just not rise at double-digit rates will depend to large extent on the course of interest rates in coming months.
"I think what we have in store is a slow deflating of the housing bubble, not a bursting of the bubble," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. "But if mortgage rates rise more sharply than I am expecting, then the downturn in housing could be more severe."
The devastation from Hurricane Katrina could turn out to help the housing industry, mainly through falling interest rates. Investors pushed rates lower this week in anticipation that Katrina and the resulting surge in energy prices will act as a drag on economic growth and could persuade the Federal Reserve to pause in its 14-month campaign to push rates higher. As a result, rates on 30-year mortgages dipped to 5.71 percent, down from a high this year of 6.04 percent set in late March.
David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said rebuilding from Katrina's devastation probably will not have much impact on the overall housing market since residential building permits for all of Louisiana and Mississippi last year amounted to just 1.8 percent of the national total.
But analysts are forecasting that housing sales will begin to decline from record levels by the end of this year and into 2006. The slowing sales pace is expected to end the super-sized price gains many parts of the country have experienced.
Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland, said he believes 53 metropolitan areas, representing 31 percent of the country's housing market, were "extremely overvalued and confront a high risk of a future price correction."
And what might that price correction look like? DeKaser said over the past 20 years, 64 cities have seen home price declines of 10 percent or more over a period of two years. But all of those declines occurred along with a weak overall economy, something not present now.
But if rising energy prices spread into more widespread inflation pressures and the Fed feels it needs to raise interest rates more quickly, then analysts said housing could be in for a rougher landing.
Those most vulnerable in such a situation would be homeowners who took advantage of the growing popularity of various types of new mortgage products such as interest-only loans. They allow buyers to pay only interest initially while charging a lower interest rate that remains fixed for a certain period, often the first three years of the loan.
The problem comes when the introductory period ends. Then holders of these loans are faced with a double-payment shock. The interest rate they must pay is likely to rise and they will have to make not only interest payments but also begin paying back the principal.
Homeowners with already stretched finances may find themselves unable to make the new monthly payments, forcing them either to sell their homes or default on their mortgages. Either development would dump more supply into a slowing market and thus further depress prices.
But many analysts don't believe that doomsday scenario will come into play to any significant extent unless the economy seriously weakens. They note that even with the growing popularity of interest-only loans and various other types of mortgages that feature low down payments, the number of loans going into delinquency has been falling.
Some see a slowdown in home sales as beneficial
"If the frenzied buying levels off, the market will become more balanced between supply and demand" and help to ease price pressures, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist at the National Association of Realtors.
"This will certainly not be like the stock market bust of 2000. We are just going from a rapid pace to a more healthy pace," he said.
___
With home prices in the stratosphere, many buyers have been forced into more exotic types of mortgages to be able to afford to buy a home. Here is some advice from housing experts on what people should consider in the current environment.
BUY OR NOT: Some people have hesitated to purchase a home, especially in the hottest sales areas, for fear they could buy at the top only to see home prices start to decline. Analysts say it is very hard to time the market. If you need to buy because you are being relocated and you plan to be in the new home for several years, the advice is to go ahead and buy. The chances are that even if home prices do fall for a year or two, they will begin rising and you will recoup your investment when you sell.
REFINANCE: For people who now have adjustable rate mortgages, the advice is to consider refinancing to a fixed-rate mortgage. Mortgage rates have been at the lowest levels in more than four decades for an extended period of time. The blow to the economy from Hurricane Katrina and surging energy prices may keep rates low for a while longer. But the expectation is that rates will eventually start rising again and could be above 7 percent by the end of 2006. Moving to a fixed rate would protect against seeing a sharp jump in a low introductory rate. If the adjustable rate mortgage is also an interest-only mortgage, there will be a second payment shock when the homeowner has to start paying interest and the principal of the loan.
INVESTORS: People who have been playing the hot real estate market by buying homes only to turn around and resell them at a profit should reconsider that approach. That strategy could prove dangerous if, as expected, home sales retreat from their current record highs and prices stop rising at double-digit rates.
OTHER IDEAS: People who find they are still priced out of a particular area might consider moving to a smaller house or farther out. For people 62 or older and in need of cash, they might consider taking out a reverse mortgage that would allow them to borrow against the equity in their home and never repay the loan as long as they live in the house.
Vote for Sullivan
Vote for Sullivan
When supporting a candidate for any public office, in a relatively small town like Woodbury, it is important to know as much as possible about the individual.
If you want to be represented by a common-sense person, a person who works for you, a person who has proven year after year of his commitment to our community, Hank Sullivan is the person. He has attended and participating in almost every Planning Board, Town Board and Zoning Board meeting, because all he wants is what's best for us here in Woodbury, Then Please join me on Primary Day September 13, 2005, by coming out and vote for Henry "Hank" Sullivan.
There are many serious issues in Woodbury right now, and we need leadership that makes our residents the priority, not special-interest groups, developers, big box retailers, and lawyers, all of whom want to control our town’s future.
I can say firsthand that Hank Sullivan is a believer in the importance of a community working together to solve problems. Hank like myself believes in open government, fiscal responsibility and controlled growth. A small number of people here in Woodbury support high density development and want us to look like Rockland County, with more houses, more traffic and higher taxes. I urge everyone to come out and help Save Our Town. Vote for Endorsed candidate Hank Sullivan for town councilman.
Michael Aronowitz Councilman,
Town of Woodbury
When supporting a candidate for any public office, in a relatively small town like Woodbury, it is important to know as much as possible about the individual.
If you want to be represented by a common-sense person, a person who works for you, a person who has proven year after year of his commitment to our community, Hank Sullivan is the person. He has attended and participating in almost every Planning Board, Town Board and Zoning Board meeting, because all he wants is what's best for us here in Woodbury, Then Please join me on Primary Day September 13, 2005, by coming out and vote for Henry "Hank" Sullivan.
There are many serious issues in Woodbury right now, and we need leadership that makes our residents the priority, not special-interest groups, developers, big box retailers, and lawyers, all of whom want to control our town’s future.
I can say firsthand that Hank Sullivan is a believer in the importance of a community working together to solve problems. Hank like myself believes in open government, fiscal responsibility and controlled growth. A small number of people here in Woodbury support high density development and want us to look like Rockland County, with more houses, more traffic and higher taxes. I urge everyone to come out and help Save Our Town. Vote for Endorsed candidate Hank Sullivan for town councilman.
Michael Aronowitz Councilman,
Town of Woodbury
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Lets see who else steps up to help
Kuwait donates $500 mln oil products for Katrina 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
Wealthy OPEC nation Kuwait is donating $500 million worth of oil products and other humanitarian aid to its ally the United States to ease the impact of Hurricane Katrina, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday.
"The humanitarian aid is oil products that the devastated (U.S.) states need in these circumstances, plus other humanitarian aid to lessen the devastation these three states have been subjected to," Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told KUNA.
Sheikh Ahmad said the gesture was a duty toward a friend by the tiny Gulf Arab state which was liberated in 1991 by a U.S.-led multinational coalition from seven months of occupation by Iraq.
The minister, who is also the OPEC chief, was speaking after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers. Tiny Kuwait controls nearly a tenth of global petroleum reserves.
Wealthy OPEC nation Kuwait is donating $500 million worth of oil products and other humanitarian aid to its ally the United States to ease the impact of Hurricane Katrina, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday.
"The humanitarian aid is oil products that the devastated (U.S.) states need in these circumstances, plus other humanitarian aid to lessen the devastation these three states have been subjected to," Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told KUNA.
Sheikh Ahmad said the gesture was a duty toward a friend by the tiny Gulf Arab state which was liberated in 1991 by a U.S.-led multinational coalition from seven months of occupation by Iraq.
The minister, who is also the OPEC chief, was speaking after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers. Tiny Kuwait controls nearly a tenth of global petroleum reserves.
I agree with them close the camp
Candidates say homeless shelter must close
Chester — Camp LaGuardia has got to go.
That's what Michael Edelstein, Democratic candidate for Orange County Executive, said during a press conference on Thursday. Camp LaGuardia, a New York City-owned homeless shelter, creates psychological problems for the people who are housed there and social problems for Chester.
"I don't think tweaking will make this a good facility for our community," he said. "The time for that is past."
If homeless men are to be reintegrated into society, he said, they need to be close to the place where they will be living.
"It is long past time they [the city] dealt with its homeless at home and not in our community," he said.
Edelstein and Chester Councilman Noel Spencer, who is running for the eighth Legislative District, said the 325-acre campus could be a great asset for Orange County and for New York City.
"That's the carrot — there are excellent uses for this property that could benefit the city," Edelstein said.
The stick would be pressure from the county executive, legislators, town officials, and community activists and the threat of a possible lawsuit, he added.
Spencer outlined his ideas for reducing the size of Camp LaGuardia and using the real estate in productive ways.
"New York City, through the excellent work of Commissioner of Homeless Services Linda Gates, is reducing the homeless population," he said. "She has worked with them to eliminate the mindset that leads people to return to homelessness after they have been placed in permanent homes."
He estimated the reduction in homelessness to be at about 18 percent. The city closed a large homeless shelter in June, Spencer said, and he has asked city officials to move people from Camp LaGuardia rather than close shelters in the city. Spencer also had suggestions for uses of the property that could benefit the city.
The city is currently trying to attract such industries as biotechnology and other research-based enterprises, he said, adding that Camp LaGuardia would be an excellent spot for this purpose. It could also serve as a college campus or a five-star hotel complex, golf course and recreation center, he said.
"This could be a win-win," said Spencer. "Showing the city how it can benefit would be more effective than threats and lawsuits."
The ideas for encouraging the city to close Camp LaGuardia, given its reduction in homelessness, are excellent, Edelstein said, but they are long term. In the immediate future, the city must be made to comply with the so-called Rampe Agreement, a set of conditions contained in a court settlement during the term of former County Executive Joseph Rampe. This will require a concerted effort, which he contends County Executive Edward Diana has not made.
"This past week, Eddie Diana met with New York City officials in a closed-door meeting to discuss Camp LaGuardia issues," Edelstein said (see related story, page 6). "The only thing he reported was that the talks were ‘useful.' The time for such empty talks with the city are over."
Edelstein also faulted Diana for the timing of the talks with New York City, which were held last week.
"He waited until the last second of his term, and he now says he's happy with the talks."
Diana has described the talks as productive, but has not specified what, if any, agreements were reached.
Chester — Camp LaGuardia has got to go.
That's what Michael Edelstein, Democratic candidate for Orange County Executive, said during a press conference on Thursday. Camp LaGuardia, a New York City-owned homeless shelter, creates psychological problems for the people who are housed there and social problems for Chester.
"I don't think tweaking will make this a good facility for our community," he said. "The time for that is past."
If homeless men are to be reintegrated into society, he said, they need to be close to the place where they will be living.
"It is long past time they [the city] dealt with its homeless at home and not in our community," he said.
Edelstein and Chester Councilman Noel Spencer, who is running for the eighth Legislative District, said the 325-acre campus could be a great asset for Orange County and for New York City.
"That's the carrot — there are excellent uses for this property that could benefit the city," Edelstein said.
The stick would be pressure from the county executive, legislators, town officials, and community activists and the threat of a possible lawsuit, he added.
Spencer outlined his ideas for reducing the size of Camp LaGuardia and using the real estate in productive ways.
"New York City, through the excellent work of Commissioner of Homeless Services Linda Gates, is reducing the homeless population," he said. "She has worked with them to eliminate the mindset that leads people to return to homelessness after they have been placed in permanent homes."
He estimated the reduction in homelessness to be at about 18 percent. The city closed a large homeless shelter in June, Spencer said, and he has asked city officials to move people from Camp LaGuardia rather than close shelters in the city. Spencer also had suggestions for uses of the property that could benefit the city.
The city is currently trying to attract such industries as biotechnology and other research-based enterprises, he said, adding that Camp LaGuardia would be an excellent spot for this purpose. It could also serve as a college campus or a five-star hotel complex, golf course and recreation center, he said.
"This could be a win-win," said Spencer. "Showing the city how it can benefit would be more effective than threats and lawsuits."
The ideas for encouraging the city to close Camp LaGuardia, given its reduction in homelessness, are excellent, Edelstein said, but they are long term. In the immediate future, the city must be made to comply with the so-called Rampe Agreement, a set of conditions contained in a court settlement during the term of former County Executive Joseph Rampe. This will require a concerted effort, which he contends County Executive Edward Diana has not made.
"This past week, Eddie Diana met with New York City officials in a closed-door meeting to discuss Camp LaGuardia issues," Edelstein said (see related story, page 6). "The only thing he reported was that the talks were ‘useful.' The time for such empty talks with the city are over."
Edelstein also faulted Diana for the timing of the talks with New York City, which were held last week.
"He waited until the last second of his term, and he now says he's happy with the talks."
Diana has described the talks as productive, but has not specified what, if any, agreements were reached.
You think Eddie really cares?
Chester kept in dark about homeless shelter meeting
By Dave Gordon
Chester — Officials from the towns and village closest to the Camp LaGuardia homeless shelter say they are outraged to have been excluded from the bargaining table.
Orange County Executive Edward Diana met with New York City officials on Aug. 26 to discuss problems at the shelter, which is owned by the city's Department of Homeless Services. Present at the meeting were Diana and acting county attorney David Darwin; Linda Gibbs, New York City's commissioner of homeless services; and Mayor Bloomberg's chief of staff Peter Madonia and general counsel Clarke Bruno.
Local officials said they were furious not only for not being invited, but for being kept in the dark about what happened at the meeting. They are under much pressure from their constituents, who are demanding that they fix the problems that spill out of the shelter. These include so-called "quality-of-life" violations committed by some residents, such as public drunkenness and urination, as well as the presence of parolees and sex offenders at the camp.
"Supervisor Charles Bohan [of Blooming Grove], Mayor Susan Bahren [of Chester] and I are writing to express our displeasure at not being included in the upcoming negotiations between the county and N.Y.C. Dept. of Homeless Services regarding the ‘Rampe Agreement' and Camp LaGuardia," wrote Chester Supervisor William Tully in a letter to Diana. "We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion."
The Rampe Agreement is a court-brokered settlement of a lawsuit under former County Executive Joseph Rampe. It spells out requirements for the 1,000-resident homeless shelter, and was intended to improve the safety and quality of life for the shelter's neighbors.
Tully's letter urges Diana to raise several issues with New York City. It calls first for an impartial monitor to verify that the city is complying with the agreement. Tully also urges Diana to press for a prohibition of all sexual offenders and felony parolees, a requirement that residents be at least 42 years old, up from the current 35. The letter also urges Diana to seek agreement to "proportionally reduce the population with any reduction of the homeless population in the city."
Tully said on Tuesday that he is disappointed Diana has not offered any insight into agreements that may have been reached during the discussion. He does not even know whether the issues he and the other officials presented were raised at all.
"I called Diana's office yesterday," Tully said on Tuesday. "He wasn't in. I called today, and they said he was on vacation until the end of the week. I went to great lengths to let him know I was disappointed when we weren't invited, and I was told he would keep us informed."
In a press release following the meeting, Diana stated: "We had a productive meeting with key officials from the City of New York Mayor's Office and the New York City Department of Homeless services at which we discussed a number of important issues with respect to the operation of Camp LaGuardia. I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp LaGuardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialog between Orange County and New York City."
Diana spokesman Steve Gross said Diana did not intend to elaborate on this statement.
As to whether the supervisors and mayors would bring a lawsuit, Tully noted that the court monitors the Rampe Agreement, and this would be the place to go.
New York has contracted with the Volunteers of America (VOA) to run the facility.
"I would think the city would also want a monitor to see that VOA is doing the job right," Tully said.
Orange County legislators Frank Fornario of Blooming Grove and Dimitrios Lambros of Sugar Loaf also wrote to Diana. In an open letter published last week in The Chronicle, they pressed for most of the same demands. In addition to an on-site monitor, the legislators want a monitor at the admissions site in New York City. They also ask that Camp LaGuardia be gradually phased out of town altogether.
Fornario said Tuesday that staffers in the Diana administration had assured him that the issues in the letter had been discussed. However, Fornario was not informed of the results of those discussions.
"It could be that they did reach agreements, but wanted to clear them with other city officials before announcing them," he said. "If giving the information out prematurely could close off an agreement I would agree with not giving it out. I understand this is an ongoing process, and another meeting is expected in two to three weeks."
However, Fornario emphasized, if these talks don't lead to positive changes, local officials and possibly the county Legislature could take stronger action, including legal action. This would depend on the response announced after the next meeting.
This round of discussions is "a line that has been drawn in the sand. We'll see whether they cross it."
"What is the largest homeless facility in New York City?" Fornario asked. "Camp LaGuardia," he said. "We deal with our homeless in Orange County with small shelters around the county."
Fornario also criticized Camp LaGuardia because it is not a temporary home, as are most homeless shelters. "There are people registered to vote at Camp LaGuardia," he said. "They shouldn't be there that long."
Fornario noted that he has been working on Camp LaGuardia for 12 years, since he served as a Blooming Grove Councilman. He said he helped get former New York Mayor Rudolf Giulianni to come to Orange County to meet with local officials in 2000. The meeting led to the establishment of the Rampe Agreement.
During Fornario's time as a councilman, the Town of Blooming Grove tried to have part of the camp closed down because of zoning violations.
"We won at the first two levels of the court," he said. "But we were reversed in the Appellate Court."
Chester Councilwoman Cynthia Smith was not at all optimistic.
"This is an election year," she said. "If anything good came out of this meeting, the county executive would be telling everyone. He got nothing, and he's trying to keep it quiet."
Smith said she is "outraged" over the exclusion of the officials of the towns and villages most affected by Camp LaGuardia.
But Diana spokesman Gross said the Rampe agreement is between Orange County and New York City.
"It's still in negotiation," he said.
By Dave Gordon
Chester — Officials from the towns and village closest to the Camp LaGuardia homeless shelter say they are outraged to have been excluded from the bargaining table.
Orange County Executive Edward Diana met with New York City officials on Aug. 26 to discuss problems at the shelter, which is owned by the city's Department of Homeless Services. Present at the meeting were Diana and acting county attorney David Darwin; Linda Gibbs, New York City's commissioner of homeless services; and Mayor Bloomberg's chief of staff Peter Madonia and general counsel Clarke Bruno.
Local officials said they were furious not only for not being invited, but for being kept in the dark about what happened at the meeting. They are under much pressure from their constituents, who are demanding that they fix the problems that spill out of the shelter. These include so-called "quality-of-life" violations committed by some residents, such as public drunkenness and urination, as well as the presence of parolees and sex offenders at the camp.
"Supervisor Charles Bohan [of Blooming Grove], Mayor Susan Bahren [of Chester] and I are writing to express our displeasure at not being included in the upcoming negotiations between the county and N.Y.C. Dept. of Homeless Services regarding the ‘Rampe Agreement' and Camp LaGuardia," wrote Chester Supervisor William Tully in a letter to Diana. "We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion."
The Rampe Agreement is a court-brokered settlement of a lawsuit under former County Executive Joseph Rampe. It spells out requirements for the 1,000-resident homeless shelter, and was intended to improve the safety and quality of life for the shelter's neighbors.
Tully's letter urges Diana to raise several issues with New York City. It calls first for an impartial monitor to verify that the city is complying with the agreement. Tully also urges Diana to press for a prohibition of all sexual offenders and felony parolees, a requirement that residents be at least 42 years old, up from the current 35. The letter also urges Diana to seek agreement to "proportionally reduce the population with any reduction of the homeless population in the city."
Tully said on Tuesday that he is disappointed Diana has not offered any insight into agreements that may have been reached during the discussion. He does not even know whether the issues he and the other officials presented were raised at all.
"I called Diana's office yesterday," Tully said on Tuesday. "He wasn't in. I called today, and they said he was on vacation until the end of the week. I went to great lengths to let him know I was disappointed when we weren't invited, and I was told he would keep us informed."
In a press release following the meeting, Diana stated: "We had a productive meeting with key officials from the City of New York Mayor's Office and the New York City Department of Homeless services at which we discussed a number of important issues with respect to the operation of Camp LaGuardia. I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp LaGuardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialog between Orange County and New York City."
Diana spokesman Steve Gross said Diana did not intend to elaborate on this statement.
As to whether the supervisors and mayors would bring a lawsuit, Tully noted that the court monitors the Rampe Agreement, and this would be the place to go.
New York has contracted with the Volunteers of America (VOA) to run the facility.
"I would think the city would also want a monitor to see that VOA is doing the job right," Tully said.
Orange County legislators Frank Fornario of Blooming Grove and Dimitrios Lambros of Sugar Loaf also wrote to Diana. In an open letter published last week in The Chronicle, they pressed for most of the same demands. In addition to an on-site monitor, the legislators want a monitor at the admissions site in New York City. They also ask that Camp LaGuardia be gradually phased out of town altogether.
Fornario said Tuesday that staffers in the Diana administration had assured him that the issues in the letter had been discussed. However, Fornario was not informed of the results of those discussions.
"It could be that they did reach agreements, but wanted to clear them with other city officials before announcing them," he said. "If giving the information out prematurely could close off an agreement I would agree with not giving it out. I understand this is an ongoing process, and another meeting is expected in two to three weeks."
However, Fornario emphasized, if these talks don't lead to positive changes, local officials and possibly the county Legislature could take stronger action, including legal action. This would depend on the response announced after the next meeting.
This round of discussions is "a line that has been drawn in the sand. We'll see whether they cross it."
"What is the largest homeless facility in New York City?" Fornario asked. "Camp LaGuardia," he said. "We deal with our homeless in Orange County with small shelters around the county."
Fornario also criticized Camp LaGuardia because it is not a temporary home, as are most homeless shelters. "There are people registered to vote at Camp LaGuardia," he said. "They shouldn't be there that long."
Fornario noted that he has been working on Camp LaGuardia for 12 years, since he served as a Blooming Grove Councilman. He said he helped get former New York Mayor Rudolf Giulianni to come to Orange County to meet with local officials in 2000. The meeting led to the establishment of the Rampe Agreement.
During Fornario's time as a councilman, the Town of Blooming Grove tried to have part of the camp closed down because of zoning violations.
"We won at the first two levels of the court," he said. "But we were reversed in the Appellate Court."
Chester Councilwoman Cynthia Smith was not at all optimistic.
"This is an election year," she said. "If anything good came out of this meeting, the county executive would be telling everyone. He got nothing, and he's trying to keep it quiet."
Smith said she is "outraged" over the exclusion of the officials of the towns and villages most affected by Camp LaGuardia.
But Diana spokesman Gross said the Rampe agreement is between Orange County and New York City.
"It's still in negotiation," he said.
Friday, September 02, 2005
He needs to spend a day in chester,
August 27, 2005
Details of La Guardia meeting kept secret
By Kristina Wells
Times Herald-Record
kwells@th-record.com
It's anybody's guess what happened yesterday when County Executive Edward Diana met with officials in New York City about Camp La Guardia.
Diana's office isn't saying much, except that issues were discussed and all agreed to "continue the discussions."
But Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan is pretty sure what happened.
Nothing.
"This was no big deal what took place. I bet (Diana) didn't come away with anything we want," Bohan said. "It's a $13 million-a-year contract ... to hide New York City's most unwanted and we have nothing to say about it."
Diana met with New York City's commissioner of homeless services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and a city attorney to talk about concerns from residents who live in Chester and Blooming Grove near the 1,000-bed men's homeless shelter.
Diana emerged from the meeting offering no details. It's unknown if one of the issues discussed was about local demands for an independent monitor to verify that the camp is meeting the terms of a 1999 legal settlement with the county.
"We had a productive meeting this morning with key officials," Diana said in a statement. "I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
The meeting came on the heels of two county lawmakers suggesting policy changes that would ease community concerns about the camp.
"It's window dressing for an election year," Bohan said. "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan and his counterparts in the neighboring village and town of Chester – Mayor Susan Bahren and Supervisor William Tully – were not invited to yesterday's meeting. The trio sent Diana a letter expressing their "displeasure" at being excluded and reiterated the communities' demands for a monitor.
"We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion," they wrote. "It makes no sense to deny representation to the communities that are most affected."
Bohan laughed when he learned of Diana's statement.
"That's it? You got to be kidding. We've had an open dialogue between ourselves and New York City since I've been in this office. And (Diana)'s opening a dialogue?" Bohan said. "What have we been doing for the last four years?"
Details of La Guardia meeting kept secret
By Kristina Wells
Times Herald-Record
kwells@th-record.com
It's anybody's guess what happened yesterday when County Executive Edward Diana met with officials in New York City about Camp La Guardia.
Diana's office isn't saying much, except that issues were discussed and all agreed to "continue the discussions."
But Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan is pretty sure what happened.
Nothing.
"This was no big deal what took place. I bet (Diana) didn't come away with anything we want," Bohan said. "It's a $13 million-a-year contract ... to hide New York City's most unwanted and we have nothing to say about it."
Diana met with New York City's commissioner of homeless services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and a city attorney to talk about concerns from residents who live in Chester and Blooming Grove near the 1,000-bed men's homeless shelter.
Diana emerged from the meeting offering no details. It's unknown if one of the issues discussed was about local demands for an independent monitor to verify that the camp is meeting the terms of a 1999 legal settlement with the county.
"We had a productive meeting this morning with key officials," Diana said in a statement. "I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
The meeting came on the heels of two county lawmakers suggesting policy changes that would ease community concerns about the camp.
"It's window dressing for an election year," Bohan said. "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan and his counterparts in the neighboring village and town of Chester – Mayor Susan Bahren and Supervisor William Tully – were not invited to yesterday's meeting. The trio sent Diana a letter expressing their "displeasure" at being excluded and reiterated the communities' demands for a monitor.
"We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion," they wrote. "It makes no sense to deny representation to the communities that are most affected."
Bohan laughed when he learned of Diana's statement.
"That's it? You got to be kidding. We've had an open dialogue between ourselves and New York City since I've been in this office. And (Diana)'s opening a dialogue?" Bohan said. "What have we been doing for the last four years?"
Monroe = Rezoning = Unhappy people
Board lets town down
Our community faces serious issues because of poor planning on the part of our current Town Board. Instead of seeking solutions to these serious quality-of-life issues, my opponents compound them through policies of rezoning light industrial properties to residential and multifamily (Meadow Glen and Bald Hill Developments).
The incumbents have also approved spot zoning (approving apartments over businesses). They refuse to increase fines to those individuals that disturb wetlands for development purposes and to remove developer incentives. Several hundred acres of green space are jeopardized because the board refuses to designate them as parkland and protect them from future development.
My opponents recently approved commuter buses to ride on narrow local roads, thereby threatening the health and safety of their residents.
Change does not happen overnight. With the help of my running mates, Kathy Parrella and Bob Purdy, we can stop this downward spiral. By enforcing our existing laws, we can stop this trend of overdeveloped and never-ending traffic jams. We need to increase fines to a level that would truly deter developers from filling in wetland areas and officially designate our green space as parks. All villages within the town should be treated fairly and equally.
My opponents have had a combined 57 years as members of our Town Board. How much more time do they need? How much more time does Monroe have?
Please vote in the primary Sept. 13.
Theresa Budich
candidate for Monroe Town Board
Our community faces serious issues because of poor planning on the part of our current Town Board. Instead of seeking solutions to these serious quality-of-life issues, my opponents compound them through policies of rezoning light industrial properties to residential and multifamily (Meadow Glen and Bald Hill Developments).
The incumbents have also approved spot zoning (approving apartments over businesses). They refuse to increase fines to those individuals that disturb wetlands for development purposes and to remove developer incentives. Several hundred acres of green space are jeopardized because the board refuses to designate them as parkland and protect them from future development.
My opponents recently approved commuter buses to ride on narrow local roads, thereby threatening the health and safety of their residents.
Change does not happen overnight. With the help of my running mates, Kathy Parrella and Bob Purdy, we can stop this downward spiral. By enforcing our existing laws, we can stop this trend of overdeveloped and never-ending traffic jams. We need to increase fines to a level that would truly deter developers from filling in wetland areas and officially designate our green space as parks. All villages within the town should be treated fairly and equally.
My opponents have had a combined 57 years as members of our Town Board. How much more time do they need? How much more time does Monroe have?
Please vote in the primary Sept. 13.
Theresa Budich
candidate for Monroe Town Board
We can create affordable and green communities
We can create affordable and green communities
By Alice Dickinson and Simon L. Gruber
Doug Cunningham's recent column rightly emphasizes the pressing need for new initiatives to develop homes that are within the economic reach of all Orange County residents. But he doubts the wisdom of the county's plan to protect open space and preserve "our way of life. Our rural heritage as a breadbasket to New York City. Our bucolic, quiet lifestyle." ("The housing crisis is what needs action," The Record, Aug. 8.)
It's true – the housing affordability crisis is an issue that calls for strong leadership and it should be on the agenda of every elected official. However, we don't have to choose between attainability and sustainability – we can have both.
State-of-the-art architecture and building principles, innovative land-use planning, and environmental technology should be used to create homes and communities that combine affordability, sustainability and environmental quality. Following the age-old model of traditional villages, new housing can be sited in compact areas instead of sprawling lots. Homes of varying designs, sizes and selling prices can be accommodated in attractive, efficiently organized areas, while large parts of each site are preserved.
Smaller lots, shorter roads and driveways and smart building design can reduce development and operating costs, leaving room for watersheds and wildlife. Neighborhood-based commercial, retail and recreation can be designed to include housing. Pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use designs located in close proximity to existing services can reduce the amount of time people must spend in their cars. Locating housing near existing communities, workplaces and public transit will allow tomorrow's families to own fewer vehicles, reducing costs and air pollution.
Agriculture, Orange County's largest industry, is part of our local heritage, and the county's open space program supports the agricultural economy and the jobs it generates. Protected open space provides many key benefits that can be lost, particularly if land is developed in typical large-lot fashion. Unless development is carefully designed, for example, it can lead to loss of groundwater recharge areas and natural habitats, increased runoff and a gradual decline in both water quality and supplies.
Innovative architecture, including passive solar and renewable technologies, decreases fossil fuel consumption, providing long-term affordability at minimal additional up-front cost, along with a better environment. These benefits will last for decades – a long-term investment in the economic and environmental sustainability of our new communities.
We can, and must, provide affordable and green communities – development that is attainable and sustainable. If we do, our children and the generations to follow them will thank us. Just as importantly, our own quality of life and the economic vitality of our communities will be much the better for it.
Alice Dickinson is executive director of Orange County Rural Development Advisory Corporation; a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to housing, land use and economic development issues for 22 years. Simon L. Gruber is an environmental planning consultant based in Cornwall, who works with municipalities and non-profits on water quality and sustainable site design. They are members of the Take Me to the River development team that was recently selected as one of five finalists for redevelopment of the Newburgh waterfront.
By Alice Dickinson and Simon L. Gruber
Doug Cunningham's recent column rightly emphasizes the pressing need for new initiatives to develop homes that are within the economic reach of all Orange County residents. But he doubts the wisdom of the county's plan to protect open space and preserve "our way of life. Our rural heritage as a breadbasket to New York City. Our bucolic, quiet lifestyle." ("The housing crisis is what needs action," The Record, Aug. 8.)
It's true – the housing affordability crisis is an issue that calls for strong leadership and it should be on the agenda of every elected official. However, we don't have to choose between attainability and sustainability – we can have both.
State-of-the-art architecture and building principles, innovative land-use planning, and environmental technology should be used to create homes and communities that combine affordability, sustainability and environmental quality. Following the age-old model of traditional villages, new housing can be sited in compact areas instead of sprawling lots. Homes of varying designs, sizes and selling prices can be accommodated in attractive, efficiently organized areas, while large parts of each site are preserved.
Smaller lots, shorter roads and driveways and smart building design can reduce development and operating costs, leaving room for watersheds and wildlife. Neighborhood-based commercial, retail and recreation can be designed to include housing. Pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use designs located in close proximity to existing services can reduce the amount of time people must spend in their cars. Locating housing near existing communities, workplaces and public transit will allow tomorrow's families to own fewer vehicles, reducing costs and air pollution.
Agriculture, Orange County's largest industry, is part of our local heritage, and the county's open space program supports the agricultural economy and the jobs it generates. Protected open space provides many key benefits that can be lost, particularly if land is developed in typical large-lot fashion. Unless development is carefully designed, for example, it can lead to loss of groundwater recharge areas and natural habitats, increased runoff and a gradual decline in both water quality and supplies.
Innovative architecture, including passive solar and renewable technologies, decreases fossil fuel consumption, providing long-term affordability at minimal additional up-front cost, along with a better environment. These benefits will last for decades – a long-term investment in the economic and environmental sustainability of our new communities.
We can, and must, provide affordable and green communities – development that is attainable and sustainable. If we do, our children and the generations to follow them will thank us. Just as importantly, our own quality of life and the economic vitality of our communities will be much the better for it.
Alice Dickinson is executive director of Orange County Rural Development Advisory Corporation; a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to housing, land use and economic development issues for 22 years. Simon L. Gruber is an environmental planning consultant based in Cornwall, who works with municipalities and non-profits on water quality and sustainable site design. They are members of the Take Me to the River development team that was recently selected as one of five finalists for redevelopment of the Newburgh waterfront.
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