Yonkers Tribune

Spano Announces Proposed School Construction Program

Money Saved to Fund Neighborhood School Construction

Mike Spano, candidate for mayor of Yonbkers today proposed an education capital improvement plan to build schools within the growing neighborhood population areas. His proposed plan would be funded using the savings offset by reduced busing costs.

“The City spends more than $1,700 per year, per student to take them back and forth to schools on buses,” said Spano, “We will never eliminate the need for bus transportation, but we can reduce our reliance on it by putting new schools closer to the children who use them.”

Ed Koch Commentary 1,163: Some of Those Making the Laws Are Corrupt, And Some of Those Enforcing the Laws Are Corrupt By ED KOCH

What this country needs is a Congress and a President who will investigate the corruption that Americans feel is rampant. The Occupy Wall Street crew, unfocused and inarticulate, unwashed and motley, nevertheless has captured support because of the uneasiness of Americans, conservative and liberal, that our lawmakers at every level of government have been compromised, if not purchased and that money not only talks, money rules, and the average American feels used and powerless.

We look around us and see corporate America – particularly the banks and Wall Street securities firms – that were responsible for bringing us to our knees as a result of the Great Recession which they brought on, now richer, bigger and more powerful than ever. This, while 15 million Americans remain unemployed and many in their 60s and 70s knowing they will never work again. Many more know they will never again attain the wages they once commanded and their former lifestyles are gone forever. Among the greatest victims are those who graduated from college and still have found no jobs available.

Murtagh Advises Spano's Silence Can Only Mean One Thing

The campaign of Yonkers Mayoral candidate John Murtagh released the following statement this morning:

On three separate occasions in the past week, Mike Spano has refused to answer direct questions about his role in the Ridge Hill bribery scandal. 

Mr. Spano's only response has been to say, and we quote:

The Hezitorial: Knowing What Is Best for Yonkers By HEZI ARIS

Each political candidate vying to earn the voter’s support in their campaign effort for Mayor of Yonkers has been and continues to be the target of an amalgamation of detractors sworn to exact a pound of flesh for those they refuse to support. At issue before us is under what basis we are to judge whom would best serve The People of Yonkers. While there are many equations by which to deduce a seemingly appropriate endorsement worthy of our casting our individual ballot and that of the preponderance of Yonkersites, gnawing at our personal and collective sensibilities is whether the equation we have formulated will be deduced by a theorem that encapsulates a majority of concerns and proclivities of those who bear themselves naked before us.

New York Civic: Pension Reform Agreed Upon, But Will the Promises Be Kept? By HENRY J. STERN

The city's antiquated pension system has long been in need of streamlining and updating. The agreement reached yesterday (October 27, 2011) by Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller Liu and leading labor unions provides hope that 2012 will be a year of pension reform, but such hopes have previously arisen and been dashed on the rocks of political reality.

New York City employees have different pension plans, all under the management of the City Comptroller: the Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), the Police Pension Fund Subchapter 2, the Fire Department Pension Fund Subchapter Two, and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). Each pension fund is financially independent of the others and has its own board of trustees, which include city officials and relevant union leaders. In general, the city and the unions have roughly equal authority over the funds.

Weir Only Human: Do We Want Democracy, or Theocracy? By BOB WEIR

According to any standard encyclopedia, democracy is defined as a form of government in which all the people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Such decisions are arrived at through the ballot box as we vote for those whom we believe represent our economic, social and cultural aspirations. The term comes from the Greek, demos (people) and kratos (power). On the other hand, theocracy (theos, meaning God, and kratein, meaning to rule) describes a form of government in which the official policy is to be governed by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion. It seems to me that there is an inordinate amount of religious references in the current GOP primary campaign.

Read the Westchester Guardian - November 3, 2011 Edition

Click to open The Westchester Guardian - November 3, 2011 edition

Click onto the hyperlink above to open the virtual paper onto you screen. Please be patient as it may take about 30 seconds for the document to be displayed onto your computer screen. You will need Adobe Reader to view the document. Get the latest, fully functioning Adobe Pro software at no cost and free of virus by clicking onto the Adobe Reader link. Thank you.

 

Westchester on the Level - October 31st - November 4th, 2011

NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Guardian Radio Network, WGRN, operated under the auspices of Hezitorial Absurdity, Inc. president Hezi Aris, continues to build its programing day on the Blog TalkRadio platform. In addition to Westchester On the Level with Richard Narog and Hezi Aris, are And Nothing But the Truth - Coast to Coast with Frank Vernuccio, Jr., and Larry L. Allison, and The Conservative Torch with Carmine Torchetti, Jr. Herein is the schedule for the week of October 31st – November 4th, 2011.

Some of Richard Narog and Hezi Aris’ guests this coming week are: Mount Vernon City Council candidates Samuel L. Rivers and John Fava, Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Kenneth Jenkins and New York State Assemblyman Dr. Stephen Katz, Yonkers City Council 1^st District candidate Ivy Reeves and Yonkers City Council 3^rd  District candidate Michael F. Meyer, Michael Sabatino, and Michael Rotanelli, Yonkers candidate  for mayor, NYS Assemblyman Mike Spano, and Mount Vernon mayoral candidate Ernie Davis. 

Eye on Theatre: Betty Buckley Triumphant By JOHN SIMON

Cover of Betty Buckley

Appearing at Feinstein’s at the Hotel Regency, one of our best night clubs, is Betty Buckley, one of our best chanteuses. You would only be able to catch her this week, which may be impossible, but make a mental note to catch her the next time she appears, there or anywhere else.

Of course, “chanteuse” does not do justice to everything she is. She is one of our finest musical comedy actresses, but no slouch either in straight plays. This talented Texan has been in show business for a good many years, becoming better with every passing year. She has been on Broadway and in other theaters many times, has also done some fine movie acting, but musical comedy and cabaret are her meat and potatoes.

Register Your Cell Phone with the NYS Do Not Call List

Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this Month

REMINDER.....  all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:    888-382-1222.

Forest City Ratner Commercial Loan Sold to Blackstone and Wells Fargo

YONKERS, NY -- The Wall Street Journal today reported that the “Blackstone Group LP and Wells Fargo & Co. reached a deal with Allied Irish Banks PLC to buy a pool of about $600 million in U.S. commercial-property loans.”

The two firms are buying the loans which are comprised of “a mix of hotels, office buildings and retail properties in several states for a discount of 15% to 20% off face value.”

Chris Johnson and Michael Gedigk on Westchester On the Level

Yonkers City Council 1^st District candidate Christopher john is our guest this morning,Friday, October 28^th,  during the opening 10:00 o’clock hour. He will be followed by Michael Gedigk, president of USA Mobile Drug Testing a professional mobile drug testing and alcohol testing compliance solution.

Listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel and join the conversation by calling us toll-free at 1-877-674-2436. For those who cannot join us live, listen to the show by way of an MP3 download or on demand after 12:30 p.m., October 25, 2011, at the following link:

Come Clean on Ridge Hill By JOHN MURTAGH

Mayoral Candidate Spano Must Explain his Role in Bribery Scandal

I have renewed my call today for my political opponent Mike Spano to fully and directly explain his role in the bribery scandal that has already resulted in the conviction of one of Spano’s closest long time aides.

During a live debate on News 12 Westchester last night, I asked Spano to explain his role as a highly paid lobbyist for a major developer -- who was caught bribing Spano’s Assembly Counsel Anthony Mangone -- as well as offering long time Spano confidant Zehy Jereis a $60,000 no-show job in exchange for his delivering the deciding vote for the approval of the Ridge Hill project.

DeCicco and Tripodi IV on Westchester On the Level

NEW ROCHELLE, NY --John Russo, write-in candidate vying to represent the 12th Westchester County Board of Legislator District is our substitute guest after John DeCicco, Jr., could not make the show. Peter Tripodi IV, candidate for Supervisor of Ossinging is our guest during the 11 am - 12 Noon time slot. 

Listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel and join the conversation by calling us toll-free at 1-877-674-2436. For those who cannot join us live, listen to the show by way of an MP3 download or on demand after 12:30 p.m., October 25, 2011, at the following link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/westchesteronthelevel/2011/10/26/westchester-on-the-level

Our entire archive is available and maintained for your perusal. The easiest way to find a particular interview is to simply search in Google or other search engine for the name of the interviewee.

 

Ed Koch Commentary: Generally Speaking, Government Best Helps the Economy By Getting Out of the Way By ED KOCH

On September 24, a police commander was caught on video pepper-spraying four penned-in women who were part of an Occupy Wall Street demonstration.  The police commander was given a so-called command discipline offer in lieu of a department trial:  the loss of ten vacation days, his to accept or reject.  You can be sure he will accept it.  He would be a dope not to.

The commander used pepper spray “outside departmental guidelines” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department spokesman.  At a departmental trial, he would be subject to a wide array of penalties, reported the Times.