Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Sensibilities have been displaced. The crisis came to light among the tight inner circle of members of the board of directors who remain mum on the issue as they distance themselves from a looming crisis to which they have been privy yet will not divulge in any arena other than to bitch among themselves. The tried and true subterfuge known all too well in Yonkers. The gauntlet was cast by Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s Chief of Staff George Oros ,who in correspondence to the Westchester County Board of Legislators (WCBoL) dated October 7, 2014, suggested that “there seems to be an effort in the City of Yonkers (CoY) to close… [shelter] facilities.” The reader should recognize that CoY’s sheltered homeless population accounted for 43.3 percent of all homeless families in Westchester County.

Yonkers’ City Hall, in a letter underwritten by the Commissioners of the Yonkers Police, Planning & Development, and Housings & Buildings Departments collectively assert that “there is no effort in Yonkers to close facilities serving the City’s (CoY’s) homeless population.”

City Hall asserts, “The closing of certain illegal occupancies at the Sharing Community’s 1 Hudson Street location,… was not unexpected or without cause, but rather a result of several material code violations and a paramount need to protect the safety of those utilizing the facility.”

CoY goes on to point out that the County should be aware that “the Sharing Community had an obligation to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for the homeless shelter. “ City Hall further asserts, “ the Sharing Community only had a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) for its office space,” which had expired. City Hall advises that, “in exercising its legal obligations and due diligence” regarding the Sharing Community, they discovered the Sharing Community was using the basement of the church (St. John’s Episcopal Church) as a shelter in violation of the existing TCO.” The basement area was not and is not approved as a habitable space. It was also further learned that the Westchester County Department of Health had not issued an approval for use on that space as a sheltering facility.

The findings and violations were presented to the Sharing Community in a notice dated September 23, 2014, noting “that the conditions identified were unlawful and hazardous, and must be discontinued.” The City emphasized that it “stands behind these actions.”

CoY stipulates the “County’s failure to inquire into the facts and circumstances surrounding the suspension of the illegal occupancies at the Sharing Community facility prior to making the referenced written statement to County officials and community liaisons about this City’s intentions with respect to the care and support of the homeless populations within its borders is nothing short of inflammatory and reckless.”

CoY claims the County’s failure to inquire into the facts and circumstances surrounding the suspension of the illegal occupancies at the Sharing Community facility prior to making the referenced written statement to County officials and community liaisons about this City’s intentions with respect to the care and support of the homeless populations within its borders is nothing short of inflammatory and reckless.”

At issue then is if a TCO is no longer valid, why are those who issued the “temporary certificate of occupancy” not lost their employment with CoY? This issue dates back to the days of former Mayor Phil Amicone! When will Mayor Mike Spano correct the error by firing Housing & Building Department Commissioner William Schneider and have him replaced by someone who will set in place a viable process by which to check issues and concerns recede.

Also, when will the Board of Directors of the Sharing Community reveal their concerns? Do they have any? IS everything OK? Does anyone know?

What is the next step? Who will defend the homeless population? Should they be defended? Do the members of the Board of Directors have a perspective that needs to be contemplated? If so, what is it?

Anyone have a clue as to what is “really” going on? Is there a funding shortage? Have funding sources been curtailed? Which ones were curtailed and why?

The letter to which this article is based was signed by Acting Commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department per procurationem (on behalf of) YPD Commissioner Charles Gardner, and Commissioner of Planning and Development Wilson Kimball. and Commissioner of Housing & Buildings Department William Schneider.

The post THE HEZITORIAL ANALYSIS: Yonkers City Hall Takes Issue with County Over Homeless Population at the Sharing Community BY HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Congratulations to UFOA President Eric Dronzek on his re-election win! 

So Does Yonkers City Hall!

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association will hold elections this Wednesday, December 17, 2014, as they do every even numbered year. With so many unions still awaiting to conclude a contractual agreement with Yonkers City Hall, one that has been left to deteriorate for 5 to 6 years, it seems Yonkers City Hall believes they will gain a more amenable partner were the top brass at UFOA changed.

UFOA President Captain Eric Dronzek exhibits an independent demeanor, satisfied in serving the union membership and gaining honor and respect from that facet alone.

UFOA Vice-President Lt. John Halpin, heavily backed and endorsed by Yonkers City Hall is challenging to unseat UFOA President Captain Dronzek. They both want the position.

The unique aspect of this election process is that the campaign is to finish the second year of Captain Chris Gioia’s administration. After Gioia stepped down, Dronzek became president. Now Yonkers City Hall is pushing for Halpin to win the vote, eclipsing Dronzek in the process.

Dronzek is satisfied with his station in life to a degree, whereas it seems Halpin is desirous of more. Dronzek is not inclined to acquiesce to pressure from Yonkers City hall; it seems Halpin is not a push-over either. The difference between the two is that Dronzek is averse to attaining greater prominence on the back of his membership, while Halpin has less difficulty crossing that line.

And it is all about the numbers. The UFOA is an older, more mature and experienced workforce. Much of their membership awaits only 3 or 4 more years to complete their service and become eligible for a pension. The UFOA reality is juxtaposed to one underwriting the younger I.A.F.F. Local 628 Fire Fighters union who have almost two decades before them.

The divide between the UFOA and Local 628 on purpose and rationale is broad.

Yonkers City Hall must believe that SEIU Local 704, having concluded their so-called negotiations with City Hall, as opposed to the fait d’accompli, a done that it was, will upon a vote of acquiescence by a lack of options afforded the union, and the potential of rattling the UFOA, scaring the membership with City Hall’s ability to intrude into so many circumstances politically will have I.A.F.F. Local 628 groveling at their feet.

Where do we stand now? SEIU Local 704 is salivating to accept any contract given them and President Dominic Savarese will not disappoint Yonkers City Hall if he intends to continue to walk the straight and narrow for the. Acceptance of SEIU Local 704 contract will be voted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

With the SEIU Local 704 contract agreement validated by the membership, another domino falls in favor of Yonkers City Hall. The vote by the UFOA election of officers may foretell the direction of City Hall’s success in political gamesmanship.

With SEIU and UFOA eclipsed by Yonkers City Hall, Mayor Mike Spano may believe he is on balanced footing for the mayoral contest for 2015. The missing dominoes Mayor Mike Spano will need are those of I.A.F.F. Local 628 and the United Federation of Teachers (YFT).

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The post THE HEZITORIAL ANALYSIS: Yonkers Union Fire Officers Know that Numbers Matter By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

The visceral component revealed in the streets of America, gleaned from the recent deaths in Ferguson, Cleveland, and Staten Island poignantly question whether this nation is gripped by the past, present or future. The very duration and complexity of finding one’s way in a society reluctant to share its promise of respect and equality has disintegrated before our eyes. The effort to diminish and belittle those brought to American shores, enslaved by an economic reality born in Africa, is a dark historical fact that enslaved the slaves and bolstered the coffers of the trade in slavery. A dance that few Americans, even those of color fully appreciate, likely to be as proportionately ignorant of their history as are those interested in the selective amnesia that is more comforting and deficient in their re-telling of it.

As all Americans distance their appreciation of the past, few recognize the standards of yore that still shackle those in the present, while more and more of our citizenry demand fairness in opportunity in housing, employment, wages, and education. The anguish suffered too often in courtrooms throughout the nation are the constant reminders that people of color are not treated by standards afforded others.

The sadness and despair of slavery is often unrecognized, so well hidden is it. The daily and often shallow discourse among those who pollute the nation, often segregated and detached from one another, yet striving for similar dignity and aspirations of humankind is lost on most sensibilities. The dream of emancipation may have unshackled the slave but maintained its hold on the minds of those emancipated and those born to them. The pain and violence not spoken of by one generation, its pain felt not by their progeny, thought to be eclipsed by the next, and yet, still terrorizes the present. How can one escape the degradation of history when too often the tools of escape are removed from those who instead succumb to becoming hoarders of food, emotionally unstable, prone to trickery and cunning, pilfering and selfishness, and yet be nothing recognized by those so engaged, and dismissed as irrelevant by others.

It is unfortunate that the son mimics the silence of the father; too shy to be anything but discreet of the past, believing it will place him and his family on equal footing. It does not.

Change will not come easy. It will require trust. It will require a depoliticizing of discourse. It will require a societal acknowledgment of the task ahead. It will require a judicial system that is at its core devoid of false testimony and deficient evidence. It will require police training of methods responsive to the ills of society permitted and nurtured to deflect from a reality burgeoning over many decades of despair.

It will require more from people of color to speak out to the issues they confront.

Silence will not heal the wounds suffered through racism, homophobia, or sexual assault. A discussion of purpose toward planning a different future will demand all participate.

The suburbs did not escape the ghetto standards of the cities. Fifty some-odd-years after the legislative standards of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Great Society”, America began a process that was at first fought, then grudgingly accepted within limits, and then became the playpen of the politicians that polarized and divided a nation salivating to get their selfish piece of the pie. Today, some have their piece, while others have little. The despair continues. The divide is greater than ever.

The dissonance may be expressed in various shades, and ethnicities, but it is now an economic divide of have and have-nots. The disparity, once based on caste hierarchies, is now strictly economic.

Benevolence in leadership, empathy, understanding, and planning in economics, demonstrably recognized as fair in practice, as well as in law, standards, and protocol may seem delusional, but only to those who talk the talk of political mediocrity when serving the public interest is demanded. Who will walk the walk? People of such caliber are hard to find. But they must be found. There is not a moment to waste. Everyone must be engaged. There are no excuses. No one should have the opportunity to be shamed by an accusatory finger. And they won’t be if they are engaged.

Patience for a process that will take two generations, at minimum to correct must be accepted. There must be a plan; it must be as equitable as possible, recognizing that each person has his/her limitations. Above all, each must be respected and each must not be permitted to shrink away from their responsibility. Not just in the streets, but also in governance, and in business.

The Arab Spring has captured the hearts of Americans subliminally, as they scoff at “lesser” people whose cry is based on the same tenets Americans aspire for fairness, opportunity in housing, employment, wages, and education.

Editor’s Note: I have done the best I can in this writing. There may be issues, from one side or another, that reveal my ignorance on concerns, or my imbalance in affording one position greater inspection than another. Accept that as my failing rather than bigotry or bias to one or another. While the messenger may be castigated, as I suspect I will, the leaders worthy to lead this city, state, and nation may not all be up to the task. Any deflective maneuver on their part, permitted or allowed to endure will unravel a vision for a better future for all. The divisions in money and opportunity will continue. They become impediments only if voting permits.

The task is to demand more of the political process, the parties, their respective leaders, the politicians who stand before us in “service”.

The challenge is in the discourse. Tell us what concerns you and why. Not a short five-word sentence; a few paragraphs explaining your rationale. Share what you know. This is a beginning that can lead to a future or return to the past. Which will it be?

Your anonymity is respected and maintained by the publisher / editor as it has been for fifteen years. Keep the profanity out of the discussion. If you name names, please clarify your basis for doing so. If you are speculating, say so. Let’s give discourse and discussion a chance.  It is the last voice you have!

Can we all admit each of us are responsible to today in one degree or another?

The post The HEZITORIAL: America Scarred by History; Struggling for Security By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

International bankers were found to have violated United States sanctions against Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, among others not yet divulged. New York State Attorney General Schneiderman legally pursued those financial institutions alleged to have broken federal, and state laws. The New York State Attorney’s Office, under Scheiderman’s aegis doggedly pursued the likes of Banque National de Paris (BNP) Paribas, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC), among others still working out a “deal” over how much they must pay. The courts awarded huge sums to the NYS Attorney’s Office on behalf of the public interest. Over $5 billion resides in the state coffers; eclipsing any fiscal plans or forethought by our narrow shouldered elected officials who are immersed in designing and defining the focus of spending this sum. At issue is if they indeed comprehend the failure of those who presided over many years of ineptitude in governance or those that are no longer partner to such failures.

Is our delegation, among all who preside over carving up the spoils in Albany, are adequate in giving voice to the needs of Yonkers before representatives of Yonkers’ peers? Is Yonkers’ story sufficiently erudite to win a nod from the powers that be to earn her place of dignity or will Yonkers again be taken for granted, dismissed for her lack of gravitas among elected officials of yore? If Yonkers is to find herself recognized worthy to evolve proudly into a future that will require sober and intelligent vision based on the prospects and the commodities of governance, is Yonkers City Hall up to the task? That may be the chink in the armor. Yonkers may not be trusted capable and/or willing to deliver.

Yonkers’ prospects to be acknowledged are slim at best. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos are of the mind-set that “one-shot” revenue can only be invested in in infrastructure.

The New York State Legislature

So how do Albany’s top three “power brokers” define “infrastructure?”

Will the New York State Legislature under guidance by the “three” coalesce around funding the NYS Thruway Authority, presently bereft of sufficient funding to engage in the construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge? Perhaps the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) whose latest five-year capital improvement plan is short $15 billion to meet their future goals be sated by a vote to save their collective sorry “a**es”. The MTA is in a hole of their own speculative real estate blunders. They come cup in hand, waiting to be bailed out by the New York State taxpayer. What makes them more special than cities like Yonkers who have patiently waited to earn their rightful place in the pecking order? Who deemed the MTA more relevant than the people of Yonkers, or the people of Mount Vernon, or the people from Erie, or the people from Rochester? Resident taxpayers wait and the “fat” cats get paid to lord over the taxpayer’s largesse as they collectively await better days; another unlikely scenario considering the “failures” revealed by the cream of the crop of corporate America’s “best” at the helm.

The deals are being ironed out as this issue is again mentioned. Yonkers Tribune was one of the first to draw attention to this issue. Media refused to take it to heart, hoping the public would be unaware, while media could not connect the dots, much less comprehend the issues that would need to be attended in creating Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Proposed FY2015-2016 Budget. Media’s collective silence has achieved a populace ignorant of their future being at play by the many who only know to “get along to get along”.

While there will likely be nothing new from Albany, it would be refreshing to witness relevance from those elected to serve The People, as opposed to learning of their service to the public good being less than it must.

The New York State Legislature knows full well how to get things done. At issue is only if they have the resolve to serve the public interest.

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The post THE HEZITORIAL ANALYSIS: One-Shot Penalty Fees Infuse New York State Coffers to the Bursting Point By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

The grief shed over the recent passing of one-time Yonkers City Manager Martin Rochelle will move people from denial to acceptance in five stages. The irrefutable model first postulated by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in “On Death and Dying,” recognized as denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance having stood the test of time. Juxtaposed to such understandings, Yonkers has collectively moved from first to last. The economic assault transforming Yonkers, best known as the City of Gracious Living, in denial of its birthright, had its first opportunity to move from denial to anger. It unleashed its scathing anger during the mid-1980’s in the desegregation case that captivated Yonkersites, presided by Judge Sand, and was deemed “groundbreaking” for revealing the connection between schooling and housing desegregation. Yonkers’ narrow-shouldered politicians, groomed on agenda driven drivel, rather than serving the public interest hid behind the mesmerizing drama on the political stage with the protagonist, the City of Yonkers, expressing its hubris, admitting its disdain to integrate its mind-set to the findings in Brown v. Board of Education, concluded in the ‘60’s that segregated schools “damage the personality of minority group children” and “decrease their motivation and thus impair their ability to learn’.”

Remembering Yonkers nebulous chapters under a process of opening and closing with monotonous regularity caused a proud city to reluctantly embrace its loss on a national stage, as if to show our lack of concern, albeit our disdain for integration being recognized, as it was across the nation; likewise our disrespect for magisterial pronouncements.

The City of Yonkers has with uncertainty and reluctance embraced its loss of self-esteem, as if to show we do not mind. Parochialism and frivolity have eclipsed our desire for a leader to define our place and standing among our neighbors. The stars of politics are entertainers and introspective by their very nature. Lording over the narrow shouldered generation of politicians consumed with serving themselves more than concerned over the public interest has proven cheap and easy.

Politics in Yonkers cannot be defined as venal or incompetent; it is simply small-time. There is a chance here for a leader to lift Yonkersites’ collective sights beyond the present mundane. With but one year left in his first term, the opportunity to do just that, resides potentially before present Mayor Mike Spano. The time is however short. Not much will come about until after the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year celebrations.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano has yet to move beyond reacting to circumstance laid before his feet. His promises on January 1, 2012 have died a slow death since their being uttered. Not one has come about; not even the simple issue of reducing the city car fleet. Mayor Spano was quick to react to public sentiment on that issue, reacting to circumstance, and with little thought, much less expertise, chose to submit to a public outcry when issues of greater import were not then or since mentioned. Economic issues of development and the realization of a revenue stream to build a viable city searching to understand its needs and planning to anticipate and meet them have atrophied to nonexistence in the three years he has held office.

Press releases and ribbon cuttings cannot protect the mayor’s gambit that not-knowing the issues can be his defense in the courtroom of public opinion. Will next week reveal another advisory board to buffer the public knowing what they must in order to mitigate the concerns hidden among those “bodies” who issue no review of the issues they ponder, much less maintain a video archive of their proceedings to maintain transparency; not even a written document divulged in the public interest to that end.

Mayor Mike Spano, seemingly the only candidate suggesting his re-election effort may be in the wings, could transcend the smallness of politics and the reactiveness of his mayoralty by affording Yonkersites and the City of Yonkers a mission statement, an attainable objective, a vision that defines Yonkersites and CoY. Yonkersites can no longer live hand to mouth. The 16-year debacle of former Deputy Mayor and former Mayor Phil Amicone must die and his memory perish.

Mayor Mike Spano, because he is bequeathed a “strong mayor” form of government must clarify the direction that will best serve the City of Yonkers rather than for what he stands. His aspirations are for him alone; the directive for Yonkers is collectively ours.

A directive, better known as a plan, would have Mayor Mike Spano, and / or a challenger for the office of Mayor of Yonkers speak about how one arrives at a defined destination and the effort demanded to achieve the goals set. Yonkersites salivate at the prospect for direction and purpose – these are the protein of government, and the valid point for being in power, anything and everything else is inconsequential to reaching, perhaps even surmounting a collective goal. These are standards opposite of the ephemera to which politics is now in thrall.

Mayor Mike Spano, enabled by his submissive staff, have collectively learned to remove grand visions and rhetorical flourishes, recoiling from what might be inferred to be messianic thinking into a distant future that he has been incapable of constructing even three years out into his first four-year term in office.

There is an unsatisfied demand for seriousness and leadership that has eclipsed all present and future contenders for holding office. Gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout and Deputy Gubernatorial candidate Tim Wu have shown that no matter the political perspective or agenda, the obstacle of little money, no name recognition, and lack of media cannot hold back ideas. It is the ideas that can, with time, eclipse the politicians bought off from contesting presently ensconced regimes, or appeasing non-aggression pacts for self-gain. One can fight City Hall. Even Mayor Mike Spano can fight City Hall. At issue now is whether he cares to serve Yonkersites or serve his family and friends.

The months leading up to the November 2015 mayoral election is the most propitious time for any political aspirant to challenge the status quo; the public will be paying close attention. While Mayor Mike Spano enters his re-election year with force majeure very much a part of his office, others can and may challenge him to accede to the helm.

The symbolism of working-class self reliance has been a tenet long espoused and yet misunderstood by Yonkersites for being too difficult to attain by the aspirant holder, even when they earn the public’s willingness to give them the opportunity to do just that. Yonkers’s political elite have been either too quick to forget that cities can also aspire to more than that accomplished so far or never understood that the two concepts are not always aligned in lock-step.

It is not that Yonkers needs to head toward any one direction in particular. Rather, the mere fact of having a direction, whatever it is could be would be galvanizing. Its very telling will transcend the salacious carnival of one celebrity or another captivating our time and minds, and the nonsensical sensibilities we have accepted as our “norm”.

It seems politics as we presently know it may not be a battle to be won but rather a challenge that may be transcended and thereby eclipsed by the leadership qualities of one among us. Who will it be? At present, there is none other than Mayor Mike Spano.

If that is the fact to be revealed less than one year from now, perhaps Mayor Mike Spano will rise to the occasion by considering a plan most Yonkersites may be proud to symbolize their abilities and their drive. Yonkersites gave Mike Spano that opportunity. Perhaps Mayor Mike Spano will reciprocate. At issue is whether even if so desirous, he is able to conceive a concept that may be best described as a “win – win” for the City of Yonkers. Anything less will not necessarily be the cause of his demise, but it will make it harder for Yonkers to extricate itself from the present “smoke and mirrors” malaise.

The post THE HEZITORIAL ANALYSIS: Mayor Spano Needs to Lift Yonkers Out of Its Inconsequential State By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Former New York State Senator Nick Spano.

YONKERS, NY — November 15, 2014 — It was way back when, December 4, 2013 in fact, when Nick Spano’s lobbying firm, Empire Strategic Planning presented their formal contractual proposal to Michael Minerva of Empress Emergency Medical Services for his signature agreeing to being represented by ESP effective December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014. The agreement asserts ESP will engage in lobbying municipal officials for a cost of $36,000 for the year at the rate of $3,000 per month plus reasonable and actual expenses incurred.*

The Empress Emergency Medical Services and ESP contract specifically asserts its conduct is to “engage in lobbying municipal officials”. Inference by Yonkers Tribune is that ESP will speak to those in governance in the City of Yonkers. It is a blatant conflict of interest. ESP’s intrusion into the City of Yonkers is by former Senator Nick Spano’s own assertion that he speaks to his brother, Mayor Mike Spano about 3 or 4 times a day. Will the issue of First Responder status not come up in any of those telephone “talks”?

* Interestingly, the contract presented to Mr Minerva is dated December 6, 2014, yet Mr. Minerva signed the contractual agreement on December 4, 2013, while Maureen Kronau, representing ESP, signed the document on December 6, 2013. It may be inferred that a rubber stamped notice on the contract papers is imprinted: “RECEIVED DEC 18 2013”, perhaps notice of the first payment having been received. Contrmplate why the contract dated December 6, 2013, signed my Mr. Miranda on December 4, 2013, stipulates the contract covers December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014. Inference here is that representation by former Senator Nick Spano and his ESP team were engaged with Empress Ambulance prior to the back dated document signed, not just a few days’ time , but months prior.

Empress Ambulance was engaged in an effort before the City of Yonkers prior to being contractually represented by ESP, but after losing their initial effort to wrestle control of the First Responder status from the Yonkers Fire Department in an arbitration suit, Empress Ambulance would come to engage ESP as their lobbyist. As it stands now, Empress shares First Responder status with the Yonkers Fire Department. The Empress Ambulance effort to change the status of their relationship with Yonkers vis-à-vis the Yonkers Fire Department, had it won the day in 2012-2013 would have posed issues of potentially grave concern for those people in need of medical attention where every second counts after a 911 call is made. In almost all calls requesting medical attention, the Yonkers Fire Department is first to arrive on the scene.

The effort to change the status quo with respect to the First Responder status is a proven record of accomplishing the saving of life because the YFD are first on the scene. When Empress Ambulance arrives, patients are then transferred to Empress Ambulance for further attention and transfer for additional medical attention.

It must be noted that Empress Ambulance would need to upgrade personnel and equipment to match Yonkers Fire Department’s ability to arrive on the scene in a timely manner as is validated to be YFD’s record of accomplishment. Will the City of Yonkers be asked to foot the bill for Empress Ambulance’s expansion to match the capability of the YFD? Why should the Yonkers taxpayer subsidize Empress Ambulance their expansion plans over the exemplary service in meeting the need of people who suffer a fall, diabetic shock, a stroke, heart attack, a stabbing, a bullet wound, etc.?

Refer to similar revelations:

“Nick Spano’s Lobbying Firm Now Represents the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association and the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association By HEZI ARIS”

AND

“Lobbyist Nick Spano Represents Fidelco Realty Group for $90,000 BY HEZI ARIS”

AND

Always East Transport Taken Under Nick Spano’s Wing @$30,000 Per Year By HEZI ARIS

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The post HEZITORIAL INVESTIGATION: Nick Spano’s Expertise in Triage and Bedside Manner Engaged By Empress Ambulance By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Evan S. Levine, MD FACC, is the Editor of the Journal of Medicine, Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is also the author of the book “What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t) Tell You”.

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The post WHAT YOUR DOCTOR WON’T (OR CAN’T) TELL YOU By Dr. EVAN LEVINE appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Yonkers Mayor  Mike Spano

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano called for a Special Meeting of the African American Advisory Board for November 6, 2014 over “the issue of implementing a ‘CURFEW’ in the City of Yonkers (CoY) and its impact on CoY”. The Special Meeting was to be addressed by Yonkers Corporation Counsel, Michael Curti, Esq., so as to bring about a discussion on “the guidelines and feasibility of such implementation”. Curti arrived 20 minutes late asserting he was engaged in contractual negotiations. He did not mention with whom. Yonkers Tribune learned it was with Teamsters Local 456. When he did arrive to address the Committee, he resorted to proving that it was unlikely CoY could prove the rationale for a night curfew, seemingly from 12 Midnight to 5 a.m., on the premise it induced a higher level of crime than even during school hours. Even so, the non-committal attitude and demeanor taken by Corporation Counsel by his very telling showed he had realized suggesting a curfew for Yonkers to a New York State Court was unlikely.

Curti’s passive aggressive approach to the issue exposed the lack of thought given to the suggestion of a curfew for CoY, and the cost and focus for which CoY had to pay to learn the issues. A Google search for the facts spoke to the concept that a curfew is not responsive wherever it is imposed in the State of New York. There is also the lack of historical perspective of the past, as well as issues that will be soon be revealed in Ferguson, Missouri. Curti’s myopic capacity to delve into the curfew issue points to his not being aware of all segments of society, perhaps distanced by his personal privileged circumstance and thereby questions the legal gravitas the City of Yonkers brings to bear to an understanding of whether trust between the citizenry of a municipality can trust the conduct of governance when it is deficient in understanding, respecting, and trusting It’s own citizenry.

The fact that Curti had no qualms in arriving late for a meeting set far in advance in order to sit with Local 456 at the last moment, proves the lack of trust and disrespect shown the African American Advisory Committee. Local 456 was a last minute situation that bore no agreement divulged Friday or over the weekend. Is Yonkers City Hall waiting for Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano to return from Puerto Rico? All spin; all calculated to distance those governed from those that govern.

The catalyst for imposing a curfew was professed to be based on some people revealing their empathy to help kids who were found roaming the city streets without a place to go to, as if there was an attraction outside their home environment that required police to protect these young people from themselves. The proponents for a curfew hoped to impose a curfew by which the Yonkers Police Department (YPD) would be able stop youth under the age of 16 years of age on “probable cause” so as to fine their parents for their children being on the streets when a “curfew” would be in effect. In typical Yonkers fashion, the prospect for imposing a curfew on CoY is nothing more than a cover-up for poor planning by the YPD as imposed upon them by Yonkers City Hall.

Arrests in Yonkers have been down because the incentive for making arrests have disintegrated by way of scrutiny of police conduct and unproven evidence in the midst of allegations against some Yonkers Police Officers having made arrests based on such falsified evidence in the past. The days of incentivizing YPD to meet arrest quotas as a pattern for gaining overtime came to an end when oversight authorities could not help but recognize the improper basis for many such arrests. Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s  Office has had to toss out many cases of late because the evidence presented  to her office was questionable.

The police statistics, not yet publicly noticed, and likely never to be, as demanded by Yonkers City Hall, suggest most sternly that the present approach is counterproductive. At fault is Yonkers City Hall! It is they who have imposed themselves into police function to which they have no clue. Even so, Yonkers has already, de facto, caused the diminution of arrests. It is the disarray and lack of leadership in the YPD that has brought about an increase in robberies.

Imagine, 20 some-odd kids, from 9 to 16 years accepting to rob banks and stealing wallets, cellphones, and computer tablets from those walking the streets late at night. These kids have succumbed to being directed by young men, 18-25 years of age, to commit crimes for which they believe they will not face penalty. 4^th Precinct John Mueller is pissed because the so-called “Cruddy Gang” of 20 people is the rationale for a curfew imposed on a city populace of 200,000 people.

Yonkers City Hall has created a crisis that today demonizes the police by their forcing the YPD to conduct themselves by their rules rather than by proven police strategies of governance and due diligence of human behavior sciences.

The imposition of a curfew as suggested by Yonkers City Hall would turn the YPD into adjuncts to the Department of Social Services (DSS) for which YPD is ill equipped to manage. The 80 percent increase in robberies reveals that despite Mayor Mike Spano quoting how statistics show all is better in YPD, it is under his watch that robberies are up 80 percent. It shows that Yonkers City Hall has no clue over how to remedy the crisis. Suggestion… leave YPD to its own legal devices devoid of politics and other agenda.

Yonkers YPD is not manned sufficiently during the day and night with neighborhood foot patrols that bring about a greater understanding of the YPD vis-à-vis the communities they serve and vice-versa with respect to communities gaining trust with the Police Officers patrolling their respective communities.

Yonkers City Hall has proven itself inept in directing the YPD over how to police the city legally and proficiently.

When can The People receive the official statistics that prove Nick Spano’s lobbying effort to replace Police Commissioner Charles Gardner with Yonkers 4^th Pct. Captain John Mueller is underway. Mueller is a Nick Spano’s lackey for over a decade. The PBA shelled out $24,000 to bring about that so-called transition to welcome Mueller to the top post so that Yonkers City Hall can tighten its choking the breath out of the YPD.

It is Mueller’s 4^th Precinct that wants a curfew even though a curfew will not cause his policing efforts to reduce robberies and so many other crimes that has impacted Yonkers 4^th Precinct under Mueller’s watch. The language regarding a curfew to be imposed on the City of Yonkers is shy of reality. The intent is to have it imposed on the residents of Southwest Yonkers, the district with the largest African American and Hispanic populations.

If only Yonkers City Hall can learn to tell the truth rather than concoct outrageous concepts that obfuscate the issues they have promoted despite their continuing failures. The deficiencies of governance at Yonkers City Hall and the Yonkers Police Department must be corrected. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano may best leave policing to YPD. Additionally, YPD must be depoliticized. YPD has to polish the badges its Police Officers wear that Yonkers City Hall has tarnished by their political intrusions.

The post THE HEZITORIAL: Yonkers City Hall Promotes Curfew as Cover for 80 Percent Increase in Robberies in 2014 By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Former New York State Senator Nick Spano.

YONKERS, NY — November 7, 2014 — Judy Koller, owner of Always East Transportation, on September 1, 2014 came to a contractual agreement with Nick Spano’ Empire Strategic Planning. The signed agreement is for $30,000 payable at the rat plus reasonable and actual incurred expense. Empire City Planning stipulate it “agrees to represent Always East Transportation, Inc., before the executive, legislative and administrative branches of government in New York State from September 1^st 2014 through August 31st 2015.

Empire Strategic Planning owner Nick Spano, the former New York State Senator, brother to Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano is evidently blind to or is unencumbered by any ethical constraint to lobby on behalf of this company, among others Nick Spano’s operation lobbies.

A pattern is seemingly emerging. Is Empire Strategic Planning shaking down firms and unions and other entities engaged in business related issues with the City of Yonkers? Has Yonkers Inspector General Brendan McGrath began an investigation into the these disturbing findings? If not the Yonkers Inspector General, perhaps this mushrooming relationship that screams conflict of interest anathema is best placed before U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara

Always East Transportation, Inc., 870 Nepperhan Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703, is a privately held company, established in 1995, employing from 10-19 people, and generates an estimated $500,000 to $1 million per annum. The firm is engaged in bus rentals, charters, as well as providing private shuttle service.

Refer to similar revelations:

“Nick Spano’s Lobbying Firm Now Represents the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association and the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association By HEZI ARIS”

AND

“Lobbyist Nick Spano Represents Fidelco Realty Group for $90,000 BY HEZI ARIS”

Stay tuned. More to follow!

The post HEZITORIAL INVESTIGATION: Always East Transport Taken Under Nick Spano’s Wing @$30,000 Per Year By HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.

Charicature of a younger, better looking Publisher / Editor Hezi Aris.

Former New York State Senator Nick Spano.

It was on December 10, 2013, that the Yonkers City Council approved to terminate an agreement with respect to the SFC Yonkers LLC project by a vote of 7-0. The unanimous vote allowed the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (YIDA) the ability to pursue other developers for River Park Center and the Cacace Center. The approval also amended the Palisades Point leases to allow Marc E. Berson, president/owner of the Fidelco Realty Group, to focus on developing Parcels H&I.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano had advised the Yonkers Tribune in December 2013 that relieving Fidelco Realty Group of developing land parcels other than parcels H&I specifically would assuage Fidelco Realty Group from engaging in legal action against CoY they intimated would be to the tune of $35 million. A rationale and sum corroborated then and today to have been the rationale for the legislative proposal to be presented to the Yonkers City Council for its decision.

Two days later, on December 12, 2013, former Senator Nick Spano’s lobbying firm Empire Strategic Planning (ESP) addressed a letter to SFC Yonkers, LLC’s lone surviving signatory to the SFC Yonkers, LLC development project.

The letter addresses Mr Berson as if the parties had previously discussed the prospect for Empire Strategic Planning to represent SFC Yonkers, LLC from December 15^th, 2013 through December 14^th, 2014, at a total cost of $90,000, payable at the rate of $7,500 per month plus also being responsible for reasonable and actual expenses incurred. Emphasis was made over, “It is understood to both parties that we will not represent SFC Yonkers, LLC on issues regarding the City of Yonkers.” How does that even make sense or SFC Yonkers, LLC?

Why would a company based in Millburn, New Jersey, developing a project in Yonkers, New York, be in need of an Albany, New York representative in the capital of the State of New York? What is required of the New York State Legislature that would hinder the development process in Yonkers were a lobbyist not engaged to mitigate such “undefined” issues, hurdles, and/or concerns?

No matter the rationale, the agreement letter was signed by Maureen A. Kronau on behalf of ESP on December 12, 2013, Likewise, Marc E. Berson signed that same letter of agreement the same day on behalf of SFC Yonkers, LLC.

The actual agreement letter is stamped with “RECEIVED DEC 18 2013”. That may designate receipt of the first $7,500 fee stipulated by the agreement.

More paperwork lists the “Additional Lobbyist(s)” as:

Cavanaugh, James

Kronau, Maureen

Spano, John J.

Spano, Nick

A pattern seems to be revealing itself here. Just as in the case noted yesterday with respect to the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants Association (CLSA), and the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association (PBA), Nick Spano’s ESP operation is engaged with various organization and firms who are hyper-local in their very nature, focus, and need, yet they engage a lobbying firm that stipulates, “It is understood to both parties that we will note represent [operation / company / organization] on issues regarding the City of Yonkers.”

REFERENCE: http://www.yonkerstribune.com/2014/11/hezitorial-analysis-exclusive-nick-spanos-lobbying-firm-now-represents-the-yonkers-police-benevolent-association-and-the-yonkers-captains-lieutenants-and-sergeants-association-by-hezi-aris

This scenario begs the question of whether brothers Mike Spano, mayor of the City of Yonkers, and Nick Spano, former New York State Senator and present lobbyist for ESP share information with respect to the City of Yonkers that presents a conflict of interest to which brothers may not be considered to be made privy because the potential for finding themselves engaged in issues they may differ over to be detrimental their interests, that is Mayor Mike Spano for he benefit of Yonkersites and former Senaor Mike Spano for the benefit of corporate or other institutions whose purpose and goals may be contrary to the city’s wants.

Lets look at the protagonists we know on this issue so far. James Cavanaugh sits on the respective Boards of Directors of the Yonkers Parking Authority and the Yonkers Board of Education. Mr Cavanaugh is employed by ESP and is also married to Yonkers Department of Planning & Development Commissioner Wilson Kimball. Maureen Kronau is Senator Nick Spano’s former Chief of Staff, brother John J. Spano is brother to Mayor Mike Spano and former Senator and lobbyist Nick Spano. Yonkers City Clerk is brother to Mayor Mike Spano, brother to former Senator Nick Spano, and brother to John J. Spano, and cousin to Joe Spano.

Steve Levy, a former Chief of Staff to former Senator Nick Spano is presently the 2^nd Mayoral Deputy in Mayor Mike Spano’s Administration. Cousin Joe Spano, is acting as a “negotiator” with some unions still without a contract with CoY at no cost to CoY, but he has been able to gain employment as a contractor for the city’s upgrading of the Cacace Justice Center / Jail.

These facts seem to diminish former Senator Nick Spano’s assertion in a recent interview where he stipulated that those who know Mike Spano, know he is his own man. That may be so. The issue is not whether Mike Spano is his own man; at issue is whether as mayor of the City of Yonkers Mike Spano is at the top of the “strong mayor form of government” or if he is strictly a figurehead?

The post HEZITORIAL INVESTIGATION: Lobbyist Nick Spano Represents Fidelco Realty Group for $90,000 BY HEZI ARIS appeared first on Yonkers Tribune.