Free Help at Yonkers Libraries

The Westchester Library System (WLS), in partnership with the Medicare Rights Center, is offering a program on Medicare prescription drug plans at two Yonkers libraries on Thursday, November 4th.  The program will help older adults and their caregivers understand their Medicare options so they can get the most for their health care dollars.  The hour-long program is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the Riverfront Library (left) and at 1:00 p.m. at the Grinton Will Library (right).  

The programs are especially timely since Medicare’s annual fall open enrollment period, from November 15 to December 31, is the only time during the year when people with Medicare can change their prescription drug coverage option without restriction.  

Everyone with Medicare who is enrolled in a Medicare private health plan or stand-alone prescription drug plan should review their coverage options for next year, even if they are happy with their current plan. Besides changing premiums, plans can change which drugs they cover and what restrictions they place on the drugs they do cover.

The same program will be presented at each library and includes the following topics:What is part D and what does it cover?  The “Donut Hole” and other details, how to find the best plan for your needs, how to enroll in a plan and how to get help paying for medications.   There will be time for questions at the end of each program.

People who need individual help in reviewing or selecting a drug plan can visit a counselor at the Will Library every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Counselors can be found on the Mezzanine Level.

The Riverfront Library is located at 1 Larkin Plaza and the Will Library at 1500 Central Avenue.  For further information contact Sarah Pearce at 212-204-6263.

Those who are unable to attend the library programs can get answers to their Medicare questions by calling the Medicare Rights Center’s toll-free hotline: 1-800-333-4114.  Both the library programs and the hotline service are free.

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Yonkers, NY, October 16, 2010

The Virgil Scott Orchestra is a 16 piece ensemble under the directions of band leader Virgil Scott. The orchestra has performed throughout the New York metropolitan area. Guest soloists will perform with the orchestra.

Please note that the library will only be open for the concert and for a book sale sponsored by Friends of the Yonkers Public Library that day.

Call 914-337-1500 for further information and directions to the library.

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Subj: Letter to City Council President Chuck Lesnick 

City Council President Chuck Lesnick

City Hall

Yonkers, New York 10701 

Dear Mr. Lesnick, 

I am totally shocked by the conclusions outlined by Mr. Schorr in his letter to the City Council regarding public notice by the Charter Revision Commission. 

Is Mr. Schorr aware, or anyone in City Hall frankly aware that the City Council designates an official daily (Journal News) AND WEEKLY (Yonkers Rising) for posting of official notices? No where in Mr. Schorr's report does he reference Yonkers Rising. Notices for public meetings must be in the official Daily and Weekly Newspapers. This is why the City Council designates them. 

Follow the link below and you will see that the Charter Revision Commission hearing of August 26, 2010 was advertised in Yonkers Rising on AUGUST 27,  2010. It is quite difficult to attend a meeting if you are informed about it the day after.   

Page 8

http://www.risingmediagroup.com/images/web%20pdfs/8-27yonkers_rising.pdf

Clearly in this matter, if you follow New York State Home Rule Law outlined in Mr. Schorr's report (notice 5 days prior to the hearing), official, timely notice of the hearings did not occur in the official newspapers of the City of Yonkers.  

Mr. Schorr's report is seriously flawed, and if it has not already done so, the City Council must present this information to Mr. Schorr. 

I am also interested in knowing the name of 'a member of the public who appeared at both public hearings and was concerned about adequate public notice.' Mr. Schorr has an obligation to state specific names of individuals he interviewed. Failure to do so undermines the credibility of his report.   

Alan Smith is a Yonkers, New York resident.

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Politicians and lawmakers don’t know exactly what they want to do with the money they collect from millions of American telephone bills every year, but they know one thing: They don’t want to stop collecting it. So they are bound and determined to find something to do with all that cash – probably something involving broadband, because broadband is strategic and cool and, well, everyone needs broadband.

The program, established in 1997, currently is used mainly to defray the cost of telephone service in rural areas, where the cost of providing service is higher due to greater distances between customers. This subsidy used $4.3 billion of the USF’s total budget of $7.3 billion in 2009. The USF is also used to subsidize local telephone service for low-income people, to provide affordable high-tech communications services to rural health care providers, and to support Internet service providers that offer discounted rates to schools and libraries. All of these services are paid for by the funds raised from telephone companies, which in turn pass the costs on to consumers.

As criticism mounts over the fact that large telephone companies are the biggest beneficiaries of the USF (though if the point is to deliver vital services, it seems irrelevant that large companies are the ones delivering them), the Federal Communications Commission and Congress have both sought to reform the fund. Reform, however, does not appear to encompass the words “eliminate” or “reduce.”

Last winter the FCC suggested that some of the USF money going into the high-cost program should instead be used to subsidize broadband costs in rural areas. The recommendation was part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, which seeks to dramatically increase the percentage of the population with high-speed Internet access.

In September the FCC released an Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking to force Sprint and Nextel to live up their 2008 commitments to give up universal service support, initially made in order to gain approval for a merger. In addition to pressuring compliance, the order asserted that the money would be used, not to support other companies providing telephone service in rural areas, but to increase funding for broadband programs.

The House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee is now also considering diverting USF funds to broadband subsidies. The proposed Universal Service Reform Act of 2010 would require recipients of USF money to provide broadband service throughout the areas where they receive universal service support. The bill would also expand the types of companies required to pay into the USF to include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers and all providers that offer network connections to the public. Despite the expansion of the contributor base, it is not surprising that broadband providers are largely in favor of the bill, while telephone service providers are primarily opposed. Just as the large phone companies benefited by passing USF fees on to their customers and then collecting USF subsidies to deliver services, broadband providers hope to gain hordes of newly subsidized customers while transferring the costs to the existing client base.

Certainly access to communications systems, both 20th century and 21st century, is critical to economic success. And it is at least arguably true that, without subsidies, connectivity would be more expensive for residents of rural areas than for urban dwellers. (But I wish someone would explain why electricity and traditional telephone service cost me twice as much in densely populated suburban New York City as the rates at our vacation home in rural Vermont.)

Still, assuming communications costs are higher in the country, it does not necessarily follow that urban residents ought to be responsible for helping out those who are farther flung.

Every region has advantages and disadvantages that make some things cheaper and other things more expensive. In urban areas, for example, the same population density that makes telecommunications relatively cheap makes things like parking spaces relatively expensive. Nobody has suggested that rural Americans should kick in some money when they buy, register or fuel their cars so Manhattanites can park at rates comparable to those available in the country. If rural residents truly find the costs of unsubsidized telecommunications to be intolerably high, there is nothing to prevent them from moving to more populous regions.

The FCC argues that subsidies are necessary because the entire country suffers when large numbers of residents are cut off from communications. The FCC seems to be forgetting that prior to 1997, houses in the country did indeed have telephones, running on wires that were installed and paid for long before the USF was established. And, as Internet connection becomes increasingly indispensable, rural communities are responding by discovering the best ways to connect in their neck of the woods, whether that means relying on satellites or setting up their own fiber-based broadband services, as is being done in the region around my Vermont place.

The USF’s use-it-don’t-lose-it rationale is a great argument for sunset provisions and zero-based budgeting. Programs, especially subsidies and other cost-shifting mechanisms, ought to come with expiration dates that force legislators to periodically reconsider their effectiveness. Without this recurring assessment, programs that may no longer be beneficial are simply taken for granted; reforms may be offered up, but the possibility of elimination doesn’t always make it to the table.

Programs that remain economically sensible, or even just politically popular (think “farm price supports”) would be renewed, while outdated programs might at least sometimes get weeded out.

The USF program ought to be a target for legislative herbicide. But money helps careers grow like fertilizer in Washington, D.C., and those who control this pot of our cash are busy looking for new fields over which to spread it.

Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, is president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group which is a fee-only financial planning firm headquartered in Scarsdale, NY. The firm offers        estate planning, insurance consulting, trust planning, cross-border planning, business valuation,      family office and business management, executive financial planning, and tax services. Its sister firm, Palisades Hudson Asset Management, is an independent     investment advisor with about $950 million under management. Branch offices are in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale. Website: www.palisadeshudson.com.

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“Mike Spano is the leading advocate in supporting educational growth in the City of Yonkers. He truly understands the importance of providing our children with a quality education and continues to be the strongest voice for Yonkers Public Schools.  The children, parents and teachers support the hard work and commitment he’s demonstrated in improving education funding for the City of Yonkers,” said Pat Puleo, President of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers.

Spano has brought record increases in education aid to the city and played a crucial role in directing over $60 million in revenue from Yonkers Raceway to Yonkers classrooms at no cost to taxpayers. He is now working to double the amount Yonkers schools receive each year from the raceway. 

“As a father of three, I know firsthand that the future of Yonkers rests in the future of our children,” Spano said. “Our teachers are on the frontlines every day providing the children of Yonkers the tools they need to be positive contributors to our communities. That is why it is so important to me to make sure our teachers have the resources they need to provide our children with the best education possible.” 

Mike Spano concluded by thanking teachers for their dedication to Yonkers’ youth and the future of Yonkers, and said that he will continue making education one of his top priorities in the New York State Assembly.

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New York, NY, October 5, 2010

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: "Faisal Shahzad is a remorseless terrorist who betrayed his adopted country and today was rightly sentenced to spend the rest of his life in federal prison. While his life sentence ensures that he will never again threaten the security of New York City and our nation, together we must remain vigilant against those like him who wish to do us harm."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said: "The case of Faisal Shahzad demonstrates the global scope of the terrorist threat. Distinctions between home-grown and foreign terrorists are blurred when a U.S. citizen travels to Pakistan to learn bomb-making from a known terrorist organization, then returns to the U.S. and receives financial backing from the overseas organization. However you define him, there’s no question that Shahzad built a mobile weapon of mass destruction and hoped and intended that it would kill large numbers of innocent people – and planned to do it again two weeks later. The sentence imposed today means Shahzad will never pose that threat again. The FBI will continue to work with our partners here and around the world to protect the public."

NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said: "It's only right that Faisal Shahzad forfeit his freedom for life after trying to forfeit the lives of innocent New Yorkers forever."

According to the Indictment to which Shahzad pled guilty, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made during today's proceeding:

In December 2009,Shahzad received explosives training in Waziristan, Pakistan, from explosive trainers affiliated with Tehrik-e-Taliban, a militant extremist group based in Pakistan.

On February 25, 2010, Shahzad received approximately $5,000 in cash in Massachusetts sent from a co-conspirator ("CC-1") in Pakistan whom Shahzad understood worked for Tehrik-e-Taliban.

Approximately six weeks later, on April 10, 2010, Shahzad received an additional $7,000 in cash in Ronkonkoma, New York, which was also sent at CC-1's direction.

On March 15, 2010, Shahzad purchased a semi-automatic 9 millimeter Kel-Tec rifle in Connecticut. This rifle was later found, loaded, in Shahzad's car on the day of his arrest.

In April 2010, Shahzad contacted the seller of a Nissan Pathfinder after seeing an advertisement posted on a website. Thereafter, on April 24, 2010, Shahzad and the seller of the Pathfinder agreed to meet in a supermarket parking lot in Connecticut, where Shahzad paid the seller $1,300 for the Pathfinder. In April 2010, Shahzad also purchased components for the improvised explosive and incendiary devices that he loaded into the Pathfinder on May 1, 2010.

On May 1, 2010,Shahzad drove the Pathfinder, loaded with the improvised explosive and incendiary devices, into Manhattan. He parked the Pathfinder in Times Square in the vicinity of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue. After parking the Pathfinder, Shahzad attempted to begin the detonation process of the improvised explosive and incendiary devices.Shahzad then abandoned the Pathfinder and returned to his residence in Connecticut.

On May 3, 2010, Shahzad drove from Connecticut to JFK Airport with his Kel-Tec rifle inside his car as he attempted to flee to Dubai. He was arrested later that same day at JFK Airport. After his arrest, Shahzad admitted that he had recently received bomb-making training in Pakistan. He admitted that he had brought the Pathfinder to Times Square and attempted to detonate it. He also admitted that if he had not been arrested he would have attempted to detonate another bomb in New York City two weeks later.

The law enforcement operation that culminated with today’s sentencing was the result of the investigative efforts of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Forces ("JTTF") in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, especially those JTTF members from the FBI and the NYPD. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also made significant contributions to the case. Substantial assistance also was provided by the Justice Department's National Security Division, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Districts of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan R. Mcguire, Randall W. Jackson, John P. Cronan, and Jeffrey A. Brown of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

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“New York’s economy is improving, but not fast enough,” DiNapoli said.”Job growth has been weak and not all of regions of the State are benefiting equally. While revenue collections are also improving, the rate of growth is too slow to solve New York’s budget problems. State and local governments must focus on reducing the cost of government.  New Yorkers are tightening their belts.  Government has to do the same.” 

DiNapoli’s report also found that Wall Street’s recent return to profitability led to higher bonuses and higher average compensation in 2009, but job losses are continuing. The securities industry in New York City lost 4,200 jobs during the first eight months of 2010, bringing the total job loss since January 2008 to 31,300 jobs, a decline of 16.6 percent. 

DiNapoli’s report suggests that future federal assistance may be limited as the federal government turns its attention to reducing its own budget deficit. That means New York State and its localities will likely have to solve their own budget problems. 

The report also highlights:

New York’s Gross State Product (GSP) declined for three consecutive quarters beginning in the third quarter of 2008.The State gained 61,200 jobs between December 2009 and August 2010, but job growth has been concentrated in New York City and its suburbs. The private sector created 68,900 jobs, while the public sector contracted due to budgetary pressures. The unemployment rate eased only slightly to 8.3 percent in August 2010 despite these job gains.State personal income declined by 3.1 percent in 2009—the first annual decline in 70 years.Foreclosures in New York rose by 30 percent between 2007 and 2009, but the rate of increase was much lower than it was in the nation.Home prices fell sharply during the recession, particularly downstate, but stabilized during the first half of 2010. The number of home sales rose by 26.5 percent during this period, but growth has eased recently with the end of the federal tax credit for home buyers.

For a copy of the report visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/economic/nys_economic_trends.pdf

Thomas P. DiNapoli is the New York sSate Comptroller.

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