Yonkers Tribune

THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers City Hall Attempts to Beat NYS Legislature’s Clock Over Glenwood Power Station / Trevor Park Development By HEZI ARIS

Receipt of Yonkers City Council’s agenda for Tuesday, June 11, 2013 arrived digitally from Yonkers Acting Clerk Vincent Spano. It was posted on the Yonkers Tribune at 12:05 p.m., on Thursday, June 6, 2013. Upon opening the PDF of the Yonkers City Council’s Stated Meeting for June 11, 2013, the index noted Item 1 under Old Business, describing it to be a Resolution, specifically a Home Rule Message over Parkland, regarding Trevor Park Glenwood POH., and that the proposed Resolution was to be found on pages 6 and 7. Focusing attention on those pages, the process of comprehending the initiative seemed odd; it was in fact conducted in reverse rather than a straight forward manner. Protocol demanded the following process… approval by the Parks and Recreation Board of Trustees to replace in equal or greater acreage land appropriated from within the property designated as Trevor Park that was to be alienated and replaced by land in the area of New Main Street and Palisades Point as compensation for the land lost in the alienation process.

THE HEZITORIAL: Bronxville, Scarsdale, Westchester? Confused? Yonkers? Where Am I? By HEZI ARIS

Do you remember the television commercial that admonished those who did not know the answer to: “It’s 10 o’clock? Do you know where your child is? If your child attends the Casimir Pulaski School, situated within the Yonkers section referred to as Crestwood, you may not know the school is instead designated to be situated in Scarsdale, when its physical imprint is squarely in Yonkers. Should your child attend Sarah Lawrence College, if asked, many people delude themselves by claiming the august school of higher learning is not situated in Yonkers opting instead to using its postal address which places it within the jurisdiction of the Village of Bronxville Post Office.

THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers Efforts to Thrive Stymied by Contrarian Demeanor By HEZI ARIS

The title of this article, a premise, is that Yonkers does indeed want to thrive. Alas, Yonkersites have yet to engage in any premise involving their wants and/or desires for the City of Hills. In fact the vision for Yonkers has not yet been expressed. The directions expressed by former Yonkers Mayors John Spencer and Phil Amicone, as well as those that preceded them have proven to be a mirage, dissipated under the weight of political intrigue, bluff, patriarchal scolding, and truth that lacked veracity. They were schemes that missed the mark, though temporarily mesmerized and bedazzled a city so parched for the taste of renewal they were prey to the snake charmers that flicked their tongues like the serpents they were proven to be. Yonkersites suffer the circumstances of being played because they relish being permitted to play from within or without, even if at the periphery of circumstances for which they will not have a hand in righting; then again, is there a want to right anything in Yonkers? Are we happy the way things stand now? Are we disgruntled only by the change in circumstances that now demand we pay more than we ever bargained? Can we no longer con the system? Do we have to pay the water bill, can't we expunge the parking ticket, what about eclipsing the Civil Service test, or getting that job becuase of our connection? Is that our plight? Are we now fighting to hold on to the corruption we were allowed to once participate? Are we losing the battle because we now realize we are the future’s road kill and that circumstance is such that there is no one left to create a level playing field worthy of the City of Gracious Living? Is that our fight?

THE HEZITORIAL: Fomenting a Crisis of Deflection By HEZI ARIS

Former New York State Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch and former NYS Assemblyman Richard Brodsky were invited to the City of Hills by Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano to warn Yonkersites of the perilous fiscal plight that foretold of a doomsday scenario that beset Yonkers with debt that would exceed $450 million plus over Mayor Spano’s first term in office. Yonkersites have for decades heard the same admonition year in and year out. The scenario has been and to this day continues to be played out every year despite no one advising where and how the deficit was overcome.

THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano - ‘Tough Guy’ or Simply a ‘Place Holder’? By HEZI ARIS

YONKERS, NY – January 29, 2013 – It was New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) who travelled to the City of Yonkers (CoY) to endorse the candidacy of then Assemblyman Mike Spano (center) for Mayor of CoY. In a concise and commanding manner Gov. Cuomo advised of his belief in Yonkers and his belief that Mike Spano is best for Yonkers. Gov. Cuomo’s assertion brought those in attendance at The Polish Community Center to cheer his endorsement of Mike Spano and for the kind words about Yonkers that lingered in the air like the smell of the most expensive perfume. The scent of hope, belief, and trust in Yonkers by Gov. Cuomo lingers in the minds and hearts of Yonkersites who heard his pronouncement to this day. It was an elixir so intoxicatingly captivating when first expressed and remains indelible among those who heard of his assertions to this day. Gov. Cuomo was at his zenith then; prospects for Yonkers were anticipated with great fanfare. Thirteen months later into Yonkers Mayor Spano’s term has Yonkersites question whether Mayor Spano is a ‘Tough Guy’ or simply a ‘place holder’ awaiting a control board.

THE HEZITORIAL: The Elements of the Celebrated Tragic Murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School Reside in Yonkers By HEZI ARIS

The celebrated tragedy that befell the sublime Town of Newtown, Connecticut, will soon be failed by conventional politics. The celebrated murders of innocents will find people wailing in ever-higher decibels of agony in the expectation that their voices will eclipse others of equal effort. Surmounting the atrophied senses of a shell shocked society given to diminish words to innocuousness will conspire to delude us all our every moment, by the very nature of the structural norms, once our allies, now govern. The picturesque Norman Rockwell setting once believed to define the longing for the romanticism of days long gone is instead now maligned by its very concept. It is this backdrop, by which life’s intrusive ability to insinuate itself into the supposed idyllic physical and mental landscape will lose. It is a vision that was once thought capable of holding reality at bay. It is not.

THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano Fears Transparency Most By HEZI ARIS

UPDATE: December 7, 2012:

Only Yonkers Tribune Banned from Internet Access at City Hall;

YONKERS, NY -- December 6, 2012 -- Many Yonkersites will remember the many days, months and years during which the Yonkers Tribune website was not accessible through the computer network operated by Yonkers City Hall, the Yonkers Board of Education, and the Yonkers Library System. When the Mike Spano Administration acceded to office, one of its directives was to permit the Yonkers Tribune to be made accessible to those using city computers. In the twelfth month of his tenure, specifically on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, Yonkers Tribune learned City Hall had again directed the internal Internet access system to deny its staff and the public to be permitted access to the Yonkers Tribune website.

THE HEZITORIAL - BREAKING NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Yonkers Mayor Spano Reshuffles Government By HEZI ARIS

UPDATE - December 3, 2012

A Certain Goner When We Reported It; She's Back!

Now that she's back, she must prove her residence or find herself in defiance of Federal law with regard to Mail Fraud.

YONKERS, NY -- December 2, 2012 -- Yonkers Deputy Mayor Sue Gerry departs the City of Hills by the first of the year to make room for her successor, James Cavanaugh. Ms Gerry’s tenure was filled with anticipation and promise only to hiccough her way from one debacle to the next. The first skirmish was over her residence. To this day she resides in Bedford, New York, but has flippantly suggested she has a domicile in Yonkers that she has yet to confirm and now needs not. She will not be breaking any rental agreement with her landlord. The issue of her residence negated her ability to remain on the Yonkers Parking Authority (YPA) Board of Directors. She would quickly be removed and long-time former Senator Nick Spano’s business associate James Cavanaugh stepped in to fill the then vacant  YPA Board seat. Mr Cavanaugh has been a resident of Yonkers since 2011.

BREAKING NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Yonkers Economic Development Implodes By HEZI ARIS

The Hezitorial

X2o in Arrears for ConEd Electric Usage Bill for $500,000. Peter Kelly Continues to Refuse to Pay Yonkers.

Patrons Advise Yonkers Tribune X2o Will Not Honor Reservations Made for Tonight.

Yonkers City Hall Refutes Power Outage and Circumstances.

YONKERS, NY -- November 26, 2012 -- Yonkers Tribune has today learned that X2o, Peter Kelly’s restaurant, located within the landmarked Yonkers Pier has been shut down by ConEd for non-payment of electricity usage. The electricity bill has been continuously paid by the City of Yonkers for the benefit of X20 from its very inception. Electric power lines fed the landmarked Pier for years. The Yonkers Pier is considered city property. When the restaurant was contemplated, then Mayor John Spencer, along with then Deputy Mayor Phil Amicone decided not to subdivide the use of electricity specific for the need of the Yonkers Pier from the electricity that would be needed for the operation of the restaurant. This outcome comes after over 2 ½ years of rental arrears by X2o to the City of Yonkers, the landlord. Peter Kelly maintains he will not pay based on the fact that the City of Yonkers has abrogated its contractual agreement by not paying the electric bill, among other financial agreements.

THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers City Councilman Johnson Enabled to Scoff at the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women By HEZI ARIS

YONKERS, NY -- November 25, 2012 – November 25, 2012, is recognized as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The first allegation of violence and abuse against a woman by Yonkers City Councilman Christopher Johnson (D-1^st District) was reported in the Yonkers Tribune on September 6, 2012; reference THE HEZITORIAL: NYS Assembly Speaker Silver Must Be Dismissed By HEZI ARIS. A second incidence against a woman was divulged in the Yonkers Tribune on November 17, 2012; reference THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers City Councilman Christopher Johnson a Bully Totally Out of Control By HEZI ARIS. The first incident was a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) by former Yonkers City Council Aide Nicole Benjamin against her employer who berated and demeaned her before her colleagues; the perpetrator is Yonkers City Councilman Christopher Johnson. Ms Benjamin had in September contended she was "forced to work under hostile conditions and bullied” by Councilman Johnson.