Yonkersites have welcomed the summer; its heat; its haze; its slumber. Rarely does a muscle grouping vibrate to shoo a mosquito; hardly a hand is lifted to swat any pesky intruder, insect or neighbor. Similarly so, rarely are we jostled from the comfort of our summer demeanor; we are very comfortable in our "world." Yet it is at these times that the political plans that focus about us take concrete form. The petitions signed in favor of specific candidates have been submitted to the Westchester County Board of Elections, and are being tabulated. The protocol suggests candidates stride with confidence; dismissive of everyone but the party membership and makeup.It is a process tried and true from the days when politics was conducted under different principals. The latest permutations demand more of each politician, new and tenured alike, yet the protagonists continue to listen to those who earned their stripes in days gone by and learned the tricks within their respective party culture. Others will postulate that staying below media radar now and thereby public familiarity must await the cooler days of September. Conduct befitting former opaque concepts described above go to benefit Nick Spano being welcomed back to the fold, albeit in the guise of his surrogate, present incumbent NYS Assemblyman Mike Spano. The answer to every political question in Yonkers, and many regarding Westchester County is Nick Spano.
Take the Yonkers City Council Presidency contest. It pits incumbent Chuck Lesnick against Jim Castro-Blanco. Nick Spano has tapped Mr Lesnick for re-election. Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone is supporting Mr Castro-Blanco. Mayor Amicone believes he can rescind term limits and run for a third term in office. Yet this would not sit well for Nick Spano. Hence, Nick Spano promotes Mr Lesnick on the hush. hush; Nick Spano must walk the plank between being a supporter of Mayor Amicone, planning his return to power by winning the mayoral seat for his brother Mike Spano, and creating an environment by which he and his entourage will be welcomed back to the seats of power by taking control of Yonkers. All the while, Mr Castro-Blanco has no clue.
Mayor Amicone maintains steely focus on rescinding term limits. He has had to contend with the budget crisis; an issue that will revisit him after the November 2009 election with greater deficits. Further still, his economic development plans are being squeezed by circumstance and the slicker "street" creds that Mr Joe Apicella, Mr Louis Cappelli, and Mr Bursen are presently incorporating to squeeze payment of land purchases by SFC Yonkers Inc to half of the value discussed and promised so far. All these unsettling circumstances go to welcome Nick Spano back to the folds of power. Nick Spano is a lobbyist for SFC Yonkers. SFC Yonkers will get its way; residents will be paying this investment off for a generation or more hence.
On every front Yonkers is failing. The failings reside exclusively at City Hall. They have set the bar so low for so long, cutting each other "slack" to enable one another the guise of success that they no longer recognize their individual or collective failings.
On the economic development front, the most recent attempt to close the Whisky Rio establishment by separating the bar "proper" from its adjacent "parkland" patio has been proven an inept attempt by an arrogant Corporation Counsel incapable of confining their conduct to the letter of the law that they may only be considered inept at the plans they were asked to bring about. Personally, I like the Whisky Rio. That is not the issue. The issue is the lack of effectiveness of the third floor. One must wonder why Yonkers employs such a motley crew. Yonkers can't afford to cut Corporation Counsel any "slack," nor squander any more time for them to learn on the job. One of these whizz kids was recently ensconced in taking golf swing lessons during office hours. You can't make this stuff up. When confronted with his conduct, he was quick to espouse being unaware about what I was speaking. When given notice that he was seen practicing the swing lessons, he admitted to it. Legal eagle NOT, but paid as if he were.
The more Corporation Counsel messes up, the more likely Yonkersites will run to Nick Spano for the "good 'ole days" that they believe were good; in reality they were good but for a select few to which none could enter.
The battle royal for scrutinizing the books held by the Yonkers Board of Education is another arrogant stance taken by Mayor Amicone. His instructions to Yonkers Public School (YPS)Superintendent Bernard Pierorazio to deny Inspector General Phil Zisman the ability to scrutinize the books is an audacious and outracious misconduct by Mayor Amicone. Mr Zisman will unlikely unravel the facts from the duplicitous Mr Pierorazio who is only interested in maintaining his $265,000 plus benefits per annum salary. Mr Zisman must subpoena YPS President Bernadette Dunne who will crumble under the pressure of being in the limelight, spilling the facts quickly lest her reputation disintegrate before the public and worse still, her lucrative connections with Manhattan College wither into oblivion.
Further, YPS Vice-President and CPA Marlin Wiggins must be subpoenaed to divulge the facts as they are. He will relent when he realizes his certified public account (CPA) license may be lost were he to conjure a tale or perjure himself.
The crystal ball conjures Nick Spano the winner in Yonkers. Mike Spano inherits the thrown in title only but Nick gets to wear the tiara. Mayor Amicone will do all he can to get term limits rescinded. He hopes to get Mr Castro-Blanco into office. He will demand his vote; he will squeeze Councilman John Murtagh to do likewise, and Wilson Terrero, and Dennis Shepherd. but Mr Shepherd is having a rough time against John Rubbo. No matter the makeup of the "new" City Council, none will outmaneuver Nick Spano, he is smarter and more wily than all of them packed together.
While Mayor Amicone's star continues to tarnish, Nick Spano's star is in its ascendency.
At issue now is how much is the "No Plan Plan" Mayor Amicone to gain by the "plan" he couldn't ever have planned?
While Mayor Amicone conjectures about the future, the New York Taxi service that offered service from the Yonkers Pier to Wall Street was to end service July 17, 2009. The failed service is now being attempted by Mayor Amicone to be resurrected for longer. The poorly subscribed, poorly marketed service functioned on a two-year grant. The demise of the Yonkers - Wall Street service goes to the heart of economic development as envisioned by Mayor Amicone. City Hall is so scared of the New York Water Taxi's demise that it will do almost anything to keep it going. The New York Water Taxi is not very difficult to com0rehend. The termination of service scoffs at the vision barely imprinted on the Yonkers landscape. The end of service exemplifies the empty northern Collins buildings, the lack of residents at 66 Main Street, and the over 20 failed businesses in the Yonkers downtown..
Still, Yonkers may or may not be in jeopardy. It all depends if you are part of the "in" crowd or not. For most Yonkersites, Yonkers is nothing more than an innocent bystander to Nick Spano's unraveling "plan." The crystal ball will be ever clearer after the November 2009 Election Day results are revealed.
