Yonkers Tribune

Op-Ed: Cuomo to Cities - Just Borrow By STEPHANIE A. MINER

The specter of financial collapse looms over New York State's cities. For some the collapse is imminent, for others a few years off. Instead of confronting these realities, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s  proposed state budget avoids them.

Murtagh's Press Conference By Joan Gronowski

"Yonkers Councilmember John Murtagh recently held a press conference to call for the Yonkers City Council to take a voluntary 5% salary cut, further boasting that he took a 10% cut in salary last year.   Although I cannot answer for my colleagues, I, myself, was not invited to this press event.  Moreover, Mr. Murtagh mentioned nothing of this concept to me during our city council committee meeting the evening before. 

"As Minority Leader, Mr. Murtagh was entitled to an additional stipend which he apparently declined to accept.  However, he did accept an additional staff person – also a “perk” for the Minority Leader – a fact that Mr. Murtagh has seemingly failed to address in his press release praising his frugality.  This second staff position went unfilled during the time I served on the City Council with the former Minority Leader, Councilmember Liam McLaughlin.  Yet, Mr. Murtagh, in the year prior to his conjectured run for mayor, and at a time when Yonkers faced one of its most financially damaging budget periods – decided to increase his staff.  While we were faced with once-a-week garbage collections, loss of firefighters and decreased police presence, Mr. Murtagh took on an additional staff member.  

Election Day is Tuesday - What's Your Take - Share Your Point of View

Share your perspective with regard to Election Day hopes, fears, and prospects for the nation and its relevancy to Yonkers. Yonkersites want to know.

Burning Koran Is Deadly Wrong

New York, NY, September 9, 2010 --  Catholic League president Bill Donohue yesterday commented on reports that a Florida pastor is planning to burn a copy of the Koran on 9/11: 

Minister Terry Jones wants to show his anger at radical Muslims by burning a copy of the Koran on September 11. He is wrong morally, and he is literally endangering innocent lives. 

Reform Rabbis Denounce "International Burn a Quran Day" Proposed by Reverend Terry Jones

-- The world's largest group of Jewish clergy, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), yesterday issued a statement condemning the proposed "International Burn a Quran Day" by Rev. Terry Jones of The Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida, for September 11, 2010.

What Harry Reid is Missing BY Jim Castro-Blanco

Jim Castro-Blanco (pictured left)

While blasting the Republican Party for blocking “immigration reform,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (pictured right) laid out his perception of where Hispanic voters should stand, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK. Do I need to say more?”

Rashid Khalidi Appeals for Funds for Ship to Run Israeli Blockade of Gaza BY WINFIELD MYERS

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, has signed an appeal for funds to outfit a ship--to be named The Audacity of Hope after Barack Obama's second book--that will challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza in September or October, according to a report by Robert Mackey at The Lede, a blog of the New York Times. His wife Mona is also a signatory.

Right of the Inspector General to Conduct Audits and Investigations at the Yonkers Public Schools BY PHILIP ZISMAN

Yonker, NY, July 3, 2010 -- In a strongly worded decision, New York State Court Justice William Giacomo, confirmed that the Yonkers Inspector General has the independent "power and authority to investigate and/or audit  [the School District] in respect to matters that are not strictly educational..." the Court recognized that the Inspector General is completely independent of the Board of Education and has only a responsibility to the citizens of the City of Yonkers. The decision is a victory for accountability and transparency in government. The people of Yonkers have a right to know how the School District is spending our tax dollars.   As the former Inspector General, it is gratifying that the Court vindicated the position that I had advocated for more than two years in efforts to get the Board to cooperate with Inspector General audits and investigations. It is unfortunate the the Board saw fit to waste time and taxpayer money in bringing what amounted to a frivolous claim .

Unions Care in Yonkers By Rudy Sarro

I would like to add to Joe DeLasho's article [Read: Yonkers Firefighter Cuts BY JOSPEH DeLASHO] regarding union workers being insensitive and greedy. Some members of the City Council have a short memory or are not even aware of what the unions did, and continue to do, for this City. Who was it that traveled to Albany every year, at their own expense and on their time, to lobby the state delegation to bring more funding to Yonkers? The coalition of City Unions, that's who. People like Anthony Pagano, Tommy Manzo, Steve Frey, Charlie Cola, with the tireless efforts of their memberships, rallied and hounded the officials in Albany to get Yonkers it's fair share. If it wasn't for us, the city would have went under years ago. We had to do what the city administration could not accomplish. 

Mother Teresa Tribute Denied

 June 9, 2010, New York, NY -- Anthony Malkin, owner of the Empire State Building, released a statement today saying, "As a privately owned building, ESB (Empire State Building) has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations."

Commenting is Catholic League president Bill Donohue: