Record-setting Year for Peregrine Falcons; Eagle Count Poised to Set Record - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

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Last year proved to be a record-setting year for peregrine falcons in many productivity categories according to a new report released recently by DEC. In addition, preliminary results of an annual mid-winter survey indicate that the bald eagle population in New York State may be at an all-time high since the state began its re-population efforts more than 30 years ago.

Peregrines' Progress

DEC surveys found 73 territorial pairs of state endangered peregrine falcons present in the state in 2009, with 42 pairs recorded upstate. That's a slight increase from 2008, when 67 pairs were recorded statewide. Also in 2009, 61 pairs bred and produced 132 young, also slightly up from 2008.

"The 2009 report shows that it was a successful year for New York State's efforts to restore our peregrine falcon population," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said. "The record-breaking numbers are a positive sign not only for the environment but also for the work carried out by DEC's endangered species program."

New York has the largest population of peregrines in the eastern United States. Many nesting boxes such as this are located on bridges.

New York State has the largest population of peregrines in the eastern United States. Peregrines raise one to five young in nests located mainly on cliffs, bridges and buildings. They are known for their high speed-more than 200 mph-dives on their bird prey.

They had disappeared as nesting birds from the eastern United States by the early 1960s due to pesticide (DDT) residues, which caused eggshell thinning. Once DDT use was banned in the United States, an experimental restoration program began, involving widespread releases of captive raised birds from the Peregrine Fund, a global non-profit organization focused on conserving birds of prey. Through this program, 169 young peregrines were released in New York State from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s.

In 1983, the first new pairs nested at two bridges in New York City, and in 1985 two pairs returned to nest on Adirondack cliffs. The population has grown steadily since then. There are now about 20 pairs in the metro New York area and 27 in the Adirondacks, a pair at every major bridge between New York City and Albany, and about 10 pairs scattered through the rest of the state.

Banding young falcons allow DEC biologists to track their movements and better understand their year-round habitat needs.

At many of the urban nest locations, wooden nest trays have been placed to increase the falcons' productivity. Peregrine falcons do not build nests of sticks like most raptors, but instead lay their brownish eggs in whatever substrate is available. Protection and management is necessary to continue this species' success in New York, which means working with building and bridge authorities so that whenever possible their work is done in a way that does not negatively impact nesting peregrine falcons. DEC has had excellent cooperation from many agencies and volunteers in protecting, managing and monitoring this endangered species.

In the Capital Region, a pair of nesting birds can be seen at the Dunn Memorial Bridge during the spring and summer seasons. A webcam operates during the nesting season at this site and several others in New York State. For links to these sites and other information, including a link to view the new 2009 peregrine falcon report in full text, visit the Peregrine Falcon page on DEC's website.

Eagles Excel

New York has conducted annual surveys of bald eagles since 1979, and the highest official winter count occurred in 2008 with 573 bald eagles spotted. DEC's preliminary results for 2010 indicate that sightings may exceed this number as regions of the state continue to provide favorable wintering habitat for both New York's resident eagles and visitors from Canada. As of January 31, 459 eagles had been sighted, well ahead of 2008's record pace. New York's survey efforts are part of a national initiative that monitors the locations and numbers of bald eagles wintering in the lower 48 states.

In 1975 there was only one breeding pair of eagles in New York. By 2009, that number of breeding pairs had grown to 173.

The number of wintering and breeding eagles in New York reached its nadir in 1975 when, due to the ravages of habitat loss, indiscriminate killing, and DDT contamination, the state could document only one non-reproductive pair of eagles. That year, DEC launched its effort to restore bald eagles to New York. The aggressive program, led by DEC biologist Peter Nye, included years of collecting bald eagles from Alaska and transporting and releasing the young birds to carefully selected habitats around the state. Nye and other DEC staff continue to monitor New York's growing population. DEC's work has since been emulated by many other states. The state's Endangered Species Act has also played an essential role in the recovery of bald eagles, as well as other vulnerable species, by enabling DEC to protect critical breeding, foraging and migratory habitat.

Amazing Success Story

"The resurgence of the bald eagle has been one of New York's most amazing environmental success stories," Commissioner Grannis said. "This has been due to the tremendous commitment of many DEC staff over the past three decades and the ongoing cooperation of individuals and communities that recognize the importance of protecting essential habitat bald eagles need to thrive."

View from an eagle nest high in a pine tree on the upper Delaware River. This past winter's survey spotted 277 eagles in the Hudson and Delaware River basins. (Photo: Peter Nye)

Bald eagles generally require and seek out open water where they find their preferred food-fish or waterfowl. Several areas of New York, with essential open-water wintering habitats, host hundreds of eagles each winter, many coming from northern Canadian provinces. By early January, the birds have arrived at their annual wintering grounds, providing a good opportunity to track how the overall population is faring.

At the start of the survey in early January, DEC works with the New York State Police Aviation Unit to conduct aerial observations of the state's largest known wintering habitats. This information is supplemented with reports from dozens of volunteers throughout the state who are on the ground.

During last month's aerial survey, 101 eagles were identified along the St. Lawrence River (a record), 30 along Lake Champlain, 277 in southeast New York (the Hudson and Delaware river basins), and 51 in western New York (Allegheny River and Lake Erie basins). This winter's count is expected to be higher than previous years because of prolonged periods of cold weather and extensive ice conditions - factors which can draw more eagles in from Canada and concentrate them within a few suitable wintering habitats in New York. Additional eagle reports will be added to these totals as volunteers' ground counts are reviewed.

For the past several years, as many as 15,000 bald eagles annually were counted across the nation, with the northeast region seeing the greatest increase in overall numbers of wintering eagles since 1986. The 2010 survey was especially important as it marked the next scheduled update for a comprehensive 25-year national and regional trend analysis.

The good news in winter eagle numbers comes on the heels of another record-breaking breeding season for bald eagles in New York. In 2009, 173 breeding pairs were confirmed to have successfully raised (fledged) 223 young.

More information about bald eagles in New York State can be found on the Bald Eagle page of DEC's website.

Lone Voice Prods Agencies to Move to Save Marshes by Darren Tobia - NY Daily News

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IF JAMAICA Bay is restored someday to its former glory as a haven for coastal wildlife, it will be thanks in large part to an unlikely hero that some call the Voice of the Marshes.

Dan Mundy, 72, didn't have formal training as a scientist, but as a lifelong resident of Broad Channel and an avid fisherman, he knew better than anyone that something was going terribly wrong in the once-bountiful bay.

The retired city fire captain launched a grueling battle some 15 years ago to save the vanishing marshes. That effort recently yielded a landmark deal between the city and environmental watchdogs. The agreement, to be finalized in the coming weeks, will cap nitrogen discharges in the bay and upgrade waste-water treatment plants.

Mundy was looking forward to a life of leisure after he retired in the mid-1990s. But from his fishing boat he noticed troubling changes in the landscape. Once-pristine waters stewed into rank brown swamps. And the plentiful marshes along the coast were vanishing inexplicably.

"It was like a detective story," Mundy said. "I became obsessed with it after a while."

This was not the place Mundy remembered from his youth. But persuading government agencies to take action would prove a challenge. A conclusive study of marsh loss in the bay had not been performed.

By poring over water quality reports published by the city Department of Environmental Protection, Mundy made a correlation between marsh loss and high levels of nitrogen, which was coming from nearby waste-water treatment facilities.

But his discovery wasn't immediately taken seriously, in part because he lacked the credentials, he said.

"People would look at me like, 'What could you possibly know?'" Mundy recalled.

It wasn't until a decade ago - when the state Department of Environmental Conservation completed an analysis of the region's marshes - that Mundy's movement picked up steam. The study led to a blue-ribbon panel of scientists, sponsored by the National Park Service, confirming the loss of marshland.

But solving the problem was hampered partly because of overlapping jurisdictions between the city, state and federal governments, as well as the Port Authority, said Eric Goldstein, the New York urban director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Another obstacle was scientific certainty. To this day, there is no consensus about the relationship between nitrogen and marsh loss. But that does not justify inaction, said Ida Sanoff, chairwoman of the Natural Resources Protective Association.

Sanoff, who began working with Mundy two years ago, compared the situation to surgeons arguing over a dying patient.

Goldstein credits Mundy for keeping the issue alive.

"Dan's never had patience for government foot-dragging," said Goldstein, who calls Mundy the Paul Revere of Jamaica Bay.

Mundy admits there is still much "vigilance" ahead in his advocacy of Jamaica Bay. But at a recent news conference to unveil the agreement, he allowed himself a moment to soak in his achievement.

"On one side was the mayor of the City of New York, on the other sides were the commissioners of the DEP and DEC," he said. "And there was Dan Mundy. And, hey, I helped make this thing happen."

Addabbo: Budget Target Date Was Unrealistic - Queens Chronicle

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State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) called on the Legislature this week to put efficiency ahead of timeliness when it comes to crafting the state budget.

“Given the fact that we are facing the largest budget deficit in New York State history since the Great Depression and the religious holidays are this week, completing a complex budget by April 1 seems unrealistic,” Addabbo said just before the statutory deadline. “Therefore, I am more concerned about making the appropriate spending cuts and not raising taxes.”

The senator said he believes there is a unique opportunity to evaluate the efficiency of state agencies and to streamline the government.

The budget is burdened by a deficit that could be larger than $9.5 billion.In March, the Senate passed a property tax reduction measure. This legislation was an important first step and could provide property tax relief to more than 53,000 households in Addabbo’s district, he said. Now the issue becomes what cuts in spending need to be made in order to pay for the property tax reduction or any other restoration to the cuts proposed by Gov. David Paterson, Addabbo added.

In late March, the Senate passed its budget resolution to start negotiations. The senator said it included a rejection of the governor’s proposals to implement $1.1 billion in new taxes, a restoration of senior funding cuts, protection for state parks and a provision for property tax relief. It does not include the borrowing of monies to close the deficit.

Critics of the resolution point to the proposed $1.4 billion cuts to education and the lack of deep spending reductions. “This resolution is a starting point from which the budget gets negotiated,” Addabbo said. “I expect that after Democrats and Republicans come together to review budget alternatives and start to restore some of these proposed cuts, we will wind up in a slightly better place.”

Once the Legislature conference committees have completed their deliberations, legislative leaders will consider the reports of each. Addabbo said he believes the budget deficit will be addressed in an efficient and open manner that will protect vital services and not bring huge increases in the cost of living.

“Make no mistake, this is going to be a bad budget due to a bad economy,” he said. “Many credible programs will be cut and the state will have to do more with less. What is important is that these cuts must be restored when the state is fiscally able to do so. There is no valid reason we in the Legislature could not agree on a state budget in early April. We are all in this together, and by working together, I believe we will weather our state’s fiscal crisis.”

MTA Urged to Reconsider Shift in Q10 Bus Line by Howard Koplowitz > YourNabe.com

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Nathan Gray of the city Department of Transportation presents two plans that would add parking spaces to 156th Avenue in Howard Beach. Photo by Howard Koplowitz

Community Board 10 told MTA Bus to think more about its plan to reroute a portion of the Q10 bus line from 131st Street to 130th Street after 130th Street homeowners said they opposed the proposal at the board’s meeting last week.

Robert Lei, deputy director of service design and operations planning for MTA Bus, said 131st Street is a narrow street that makes it difficult for two buses to pass each other in opposite directions and that the road is out of the way for the Q10 route, which goes from Kew Gardens to John F. Kennedy International Airport using Lefferts Boulevard.

The Q10 has the highest ridership of the 80 bus routes operated by MTA Bus, Lei said.

“We think [130th Street] is the better street for the bus to run on,” he said, noting that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would save money from the change because the buses could run 1 1/2 minutes faster.

He said 130th Street would avoid extra turns for the bus and bus drivers would have improved visibility because the street is wider than 131st Street. Of the 1,260 Q10 riders who use the bus stops on 131st Street, Lei said 8 percent will have a shorter walk to proposed bus stops on 130th Street, 44 percent will have the same walking distance and 47 percent will have a longer walk to the stop.

Lei said MTA Bus hopes to implement the plan in late June.

Martha Taylor-Butler, an aide to state Assemblywoman Michele Titus (D-Far Rockaway), said she initially thought the MTA’s plan was a good idea, but said she changed her mind after realizing it would be difficult for Q10 riders to transfer to the Q9 at Rockaway Boulevard and 131st Street.

Bianca Peebles, a 130th Street resident, disputed Lei’s claims that the road was wider than 131st Street, arguing there are three schools on the street, which leads to double- and triple-parked cars when the schools open and close for the day.

“You need to go out there at 3 p.m. when school is coming out,” Peebles told Lei. “I think it’s not a good idea.”

CB 10 approved a motion for MTA Bus to reconsider the plan and urged the agency to talk to more 130th Street residents about how they feel about the proposal.

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The board also approved a plan that would add more parking spaces to a Howard Beach street.

Nathan Gray of the city Department of Transportation said the agency’s Highway Design Unit drew up two plans for 156th Avenue between 77th and 78th streets that would allow for parking on both sides of the road.

The first proposal would put a concrete median in the middle of 156th Avenue with painted stop bars at 78th Street and 156th Avenue and Amber Street and 156th Avenue. The plan provides for 14 parking spaces — eight on the north side of the street and six on the south side.

The second proposal was the same as the first except there would be seven tree pits along the concrete median, Gray said.

“This is a good alternative to provide parking” on the street while also controlling speeding, which had been a concern for the DOT, Gray said.

Four homeowners who attended CB 10’s meeting said they were in favor of the second proposal.

The board approved the second plan in a voice vote.

Gray said the plan would be sent to the citywide concrete unit for installation, which could take between eight and 12 months.

Queens Journal - Juniper Park Civic Association Flexes Its Muscles by Fernanda Santos - NYTimes.com

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Robert F. Holden, left, the president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, and John Killcommons, the vice president. Uli Seit for The New York Times

All manner of politicians have made it a point to show up at meetings of the Juniper Park Civic Association in Queens: City Council members; Representative Anthony D. Weiner, who represents parts of the borough; and even George E. Pataki when he was governor of New York.

The Juniper Park Civic Association has fiercely fought a proposal that would bring a truck depot to Maspeth, Queens.

Mayors past and present have also made the trip — from Edward I. Koch to Rudolph W. Giuliani to Michael R. Bloomberg. In fact, Mr. Bloomberg, who has visited the group four times, once called it “the most successful civic association in the city.”

The association, which represents Middle Village and Maspeth, proudly highlights the mayor’s compliment on its membership forms.

Mr. Bloomberg just may have a point. The group’s track record suggests it knows a thing or two about getting what it wants.

When a 24-hour 7-Eleven store opened in Middle Village in 2005, its members threatened a boycott until the owner installed 16 surveillance cameras to discourage loitering.

That same year, Representative Jerrold Nadler proposed a rail tunnel linking Brooklyn to New Jersey that would include a large truck depot in Maspeth.

In response, the association put up a billboard over the Long Island Expressway that read, “Congressman Nadler Wants 16,000 More Trucks a Day to Exit Here.” The ultimate fate of the depot as well as the tunnel is unclear.

The group, which was founded in 1938 under a different name, also helped defeat a plan to build a Home Depot on a lot owned by KeySpan in neighboring Elmhurst. Instead, Mr. Bloomberg got the company to donate the land for a park, which is what the association had wanted.

The group is now fighting with the city’s Department of Transportation to limit Maspeth to local truck traffic to prevent trucks traveling through Queens and bound for Brooklyn from using the neighborhood’s streets.

About 300 people typically fill the public school auditorium where the civic association’s meetings are held. It claims 1,670 members, many of them proud homeowners with multigenerational ties to the area who typically vote for candidates based on what they have done for the neighborhood.

It is no surprise, then, that politicians are keen to pay the group proper respect by making time to accept the association’s invitations. “We’re watchdogs,” said Lorraine Sciulli, 75, the association’s first vice president and the editor of The Juniper Berry, the group’s 64-page quarterly magazine. “We’re the people who stand up and say: ‘Wait a minute! You can’t do that in our neighborhood.’ ”

Still, some of the tactics the association uses to make its arguments have provoked a backlash. “They either work very well with you or they don’t work well at all, depending on whether you agree with them,” said City Councilwoman Elizabeth S. Crowley, who represents the area. The Queens borough president, Helen M. Marshall, said the group’s persistence could sometimes be alienating. “I’ve seen them go after politicians who don’t do what they want, and it’s murder,” Ms. Marshall said.

Joseph Pisano, 48, who lives in Middle Village with his wife and their two giant schnauzers, is the president of another local community group, the Juniper Valley Park Dog Association. For two years, the group has tried to build a dog run in the park, but it has faced intense opposition from some of the civic association’s members. “It’s their way or no way,” Mr. Pisano said.

Even Mr. Bloomberg, who was twice named man of the year by the association, in 2003 and 2006, has fallen out of the group’s favor.

In recent issues of The Juniper Berry, he has been blamed for things like crime (“We pay huge amounts in taxes and yet know that the police are short-staffed,” the group’s secretary, Robert Doocey, wrote in the December issue), construction violations (“The buck must stop at the desk of Mayor Michael Bloomberg,” its president, Robert F. Holden, wrote in September) and illegal immigration (“He thinks he could sustain the drain on our tax dollars by illegal aliens who do not pay taxes into the system,” Ms. Sciulli wrote in March).

The turning point in what was once a friendly relationship came in 2006, Mr. Holden said, when firefighters booed Mr. Bloomberg during an appearance at a civic association meeting over the possible closing of firehouses. That same year, the association sued the city, claiming that an informal policy allowing dogs to be off a leash in parks during certain hours was illegal. It lost the lawsuit, but the litigation forced the city to make the policy official.

Then came the Bloomberg administration’s denial of landmark status for St. Saviour’s, an old Gothic-style church in Maspeth that was bound for demolition, but was spared after the association intervened. It has been dismantled and will be reassembled at a local cemetery; Ms. Marshall’s office has set aside $1.4 million for the project.

At a rally in July 2008 that the association organized to save the church, someone in the crowd had a sign with a noose and the words “reserved for,” followed by the names of several city officials, including Mr. Bloomberg. The administration threatened to cease dealing with the group if Mr. Holden did not apologize, which he refused to do.

“Bloomberg is our mayor,” said Mr. Holden, a graphics design professor at New York City College of Technology. “We elected him, and we have a duty to hold his feet to the fire, which is exactly what we’ve been doing.”

Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, did not want to publicly comment about the group’s views of the mayor except to say: “It’s great when civic groups honor the mayor. But they’re mistaken if they think that’s going to tip the balance in their favor.”

Mr. Holden said that City Hall no longer responded to his letters or complaints — for example, over what he said was the city’s failure to shovel public sidewalks after snowstorms. Mr. Bloomberg has also changed his position on the freight tunnel that Representative Nadler proposed: he is now a proponent.

On recent balmy Wednesday morning, Mr. Holden was holed up in his home office in Middle Village, putting the final touches on the March/April cover of The Juniper Berry. It featured an illustration of Mr. Bloomberg conducting a freight train loaded with garbage bags under the headline, “City’s Waste Management Plan Dumps on Us.”

Boro Does Its Part for the Environment - Goin' Green in Queens - YourNabe.com

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Dan Miner, chairman of the Sierra Club's New York City chapter, attends the Going Green in Queens conference at the Al Oerter Recreational Center in Flushing last week. Miner was the event's keynote speaker. Photo by Christina Santucci

From composting waste and leftover food to purchasing goods made from discarded water bottles, there are plenty of ways borough residents can live more sustainably, environmentalists said at the Going Green in Queens 2010 conference last week.

“There’s a budding environmental movement in Queens and you can see that here,” said Sunnyside resident Dan Hendrick, communication director at the New York League of Conservation Voters. “There are local groups doing recycling in Queens, doing gardens in Queens. There are so many people making all kinds of connections here and that’s the best part.”

About 350 people attended Saturday’s daylong conference on green initiatives that was hosted by the Queens Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces at Flushing’s Al Oerter Recreational Center. TimesLedger Newspapers was the event’s media sponsor.

More than 50 environmental groups from across Queens and the city were featured at the event, which included workshops on solar energy, composting and tree pruning. Many local groups set up tables at the event, such as the Western Queens Compost Initiative, which raised money for its organization that composts waste left behind from bike tours through western Queens, and Community Supported Agriculture groups.

“We have a huge resource that’s being untapped, and food can be turned back into a soil amendment,” said Astoria resident Stephanos Koullius, a member of the WQCI. “We can use food scraps to grow more food.”

The Flushing-based Tzu Chi company set up shop in the recreation center to sell its bags, clothing and blankets made from the polyester fibers in water bottles.

“We’re happy to be at this event because it raises awareness of how we’re harming the environment and what we can do to help,” said Tiffany Huang, a Flushing resident who works for Tzu Chi, which also has headquarters in Taiwan. “We’re trying to promote things that are environmentally friendly.”

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said the event will help borough and city residents already working in the green movement to make important connections with others concerned about sustainable living.

“It’s a really great opportunity for people involved in greening to network with each other,” Lewandowski said.

Lewandowski agreed with Hendrick that there is a growing awareness of the green movement in Queens and she said hundreds of borough residents are working on local gardens on city-owned land at places like the Senior Korean Garden in Kissena Park and the Goodwill Park in Astoria.

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Dan Miner, chairman of the Sierra Club’s New York City chapter and senior vice president of the Long Island City Business Development Corp., said those who participated in Saturday’s conference need to focus their efforts on promoting sustainable lifestyles to groups and individuals throughout the city.

“We need to work on explaining why we need to make fundamental changes in our lives,” said Miner, who was the keynote speaker at Going Green in Queens. “We have to make people understand how these changes can improve quality of life. As electricity and oil costs go up, we need to address how you can prepare your neighborhood for these changes and how you can make your neighborhood more sustainable and resilient.”

Rachel Amar of the group Waste Management of New York, a national recycling company, said Saturday’s event formed bonds between community members and green organizations and made it easy for people to understand how they could make changes in their own lives that make a difference.

“As an environmental service company, we strongly believe in working with good environmental groups in the community,” said Amar, who grew up in Fresh Meadows. “ It’s important for people to learn how they can be better stewards of the environment.”

Senator Addabbo & Assembly Members Miller, Nolan, Pheffer, Councilwoman Crowley Co-Host Tax Lien Help Event at Cordon Bleu...

Local Electeds Co-Host Tax Lien Assistance Outreach Event

Senator Addabbo, Assemblyman Miller, Assemblywoman Nolan, Assemblywoman Pheffer, and Councilwoman Crowley Offer Help to District Property Owners

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NYS Senator Joe Addabbo is co-hosting a free Tax Lien Assistance Outreach Event, along with southern and western Queens electeds Assemblyman Mike Miller, Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.

Constituents who are struggling with tax lien issues should come for help to prevent losing their homes/properties on Tuesday, April 6, to Cordon Bleu, 96-01 Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven, between 5:30 – 8:00 PM. All are welcome to this free community outreach event. The site is conveniently located near the Woodhaven Boulevard train stop (J, Z) and the Q 11 and Q 56 bus routes and is handicap accessible.

Property owners must bring their water/sewer bills, property taxes and Department of Housing and Preservation loan paperwork. The City will have representatives on hand to offer customer service and be able to check your eligibility for billing programs, including their new Water Debt Assistance Program and provide help with setting up payment plans. Representatives from New York City Environmental Protection (DEP), New York City Finance (DOF) and New York City Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD) will be there to assist residents.

The DEP will provide customer service regarding payment of water and sewer bills; water conservation education and water assistance program; the Department of Finance will cover Real Property Tax Credit guidelines; the Department of Finance will cover its Exemption Programs; the Department of Housing and Preservation will provide assistance in preventing foreclosures and predatory lending and assist with securing low-interest loans.

A tax lien usually involves real estate although it can also involve other forms of personal property. A lien is placed on the property when the owner fails to pay, or is delinquent in paying, certain taxes. Less common are tax liens that involve other fees owed to a government agency.

For example, in New York City, if you don't pay your water bill and you've run up a bill of $1,000 or more that you owe the City, then they can file for a tax lien against your property. In most situations, however, tax liens are issued because of delinquent property taxes.

When a tax lien does involve real estate and the property does exchange hands, the obligation of repayment is said to "run with the land." That means the new property owner is now responsible for repayment of taxes owed even if the non-payment occurred because of a prior owner. This is one of the reasons a title search and title insurance is so important to new homeowners.

A State Senate resolution has urged bipartisan support for Property Tax Relief aimed at reversing New York’s skyrocketing property taxes in order to put more money back in the hands of middle income families and senior homeowners.

For more information about the tax lien outreach event, please call David Giller at Senator Addabbo’s office: 718-738-1111.

Top Bloomberg Aide to Lead Charity Board by Michael Barbaro - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

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Isn't this illegal or a conflict of interest..? if not, why not...

In a move without precedent in New York City government, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has appointed a sitting deputy mayor in his administration to simultaneously run his charitable foundation.

As he seeks to ramp up the work of his charity, he named Patricia E. Harris, the second-most powerful official at City Hall, to be the chief executive and chairwoman of the multibillion-dollar Bloomberg Family Foundation.

The appointment suggests that Ms. Harris will now split time between her job helping oversee city government and her job with Mr. Bloomberg’s growing charity.

Until now, Ms. Harris has served as president of the foundation, helping to set up its operations. After Mr. Bloomberg won a third term, many expected Ms. Harris to postpone her plans to run the foundation.

In her new position, however, she is expected to play an even bigger role in the organization. After focusing on international causes, it is now expanding its reach into United States and, potentially, into New York City.

Ms. Harris will also lead the foundation’s new board of directors, a 19-member board that includes some of the biggest names in American business and government.

“This has been a persistent problem with the Bloomberg administration,” said Susan Lerner the head of Common Cause NY, a good government group. “There does not seem to be a truly effective barrier between the work which people who are on the public payroll do for the city and what they do for the mayor’s business or his personal interest.”

A spokesman for the mayor, Jason Post, said: “Patti manages the mayor’s personal philanthropy in her personal time and has for years. Nothing in today’s announcement changes that.”

Ms. Harris, the highest paid official at City Hall, with a salary of $245,000, will not be paid as chief executive of the foundation, Mr. Post said.

Asked how Ms. Harris would juggle the various responsibilities of her dual roles, Mr. Post said, “This is a voluntary, unpaid position, and consistent with her involvement in his philanthropy.”

In 2008, Ms. Harris and a City Hall aide, Allison Jaffin, obtained a waiver from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board to work at the foundation while keeping her job at City Hall, arguing that her work was voluntary and involved minimal use of public resources. At the time, however, she held the title of president.

The city’s charter generally prohibits government officials from entering into business relationships with subordinates, or performing private work on city time.

The Bloomberg administration notified the conflicts board of Ms. Harris’s new title, but it is was unclear whether she sought a separate waiver before becoming the chief executive and chairwoman of the board at the foundation.

Mr. Post said that Ms. Harris’s new responsibilities were “consistent with a prior C.O.I.B. opinion concerning her role with the foundation.”

Among those appointed to the board of the foundation on Wednesday were Ms. Harris; Henry M. Paulson Jr., the former treasury secretary; Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida; Manny Diaz, the mayor of Miami; Cory A. Booker, the mayor of Newark; Maya Lin, the architect; and David L. Boren, a former United States senator and the president of the University of Oklahoma; and Kenneth I. Chenault, the chief executive of American Express.

Mr. Bloomberg also appointed his two daughters, Emma and Georgina Bloomberg, to the board.

Mr. Bloomberg started his foundation during his second term, and he has purchased space near his Upper East Side town house as a home for the charity.

Since then, the line between City Hall and his foundation has, at times, become blurry. Several of the mayor’s top aides at City Hall have taken jobs with the foundation, most recently his communications director, James Anderson.

New Voting Machines Still Cause Concerns by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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Democratic District Leader Frank Gulluscio and Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton, center, hear more information about the new voting machines from Barbara Conacchio of the city Board of Elections. Photo by Stephen Geffon

With just over five months to go before the mandated implementation of new voting machines, which will be used in the September primaries, many south Queens residents still have concerns about the new vote counters.

Barbara Conacchio, chief clerk of the city Board of Elections for Queens, sought to assure residents that the BOE had the situation under control at last Wednesday’s meeting of the South Queens Democratic Club in Howard Beach.

But many still had their doubts.

“This machine better be worth the change,” said Frank Dardani, president of the Ozone Tudor Civic Association, who added he feels that if the new optical scanning voting machines are perceived as too complicated, people will not come out to vote.

A Howard Beach resident identified only as Alan agreed. “One can reasonably expect a lot of confusion, along with longer wait times in line to vote,” he said.

One resident asked Conacchio if she thinks the old mechanical voting machines were better, having been used for the past 50 years without major problems.

The chief clerk noted that the change is part of the city’s compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, which mandated, among other measures, the replacement of lever machines and implementation of voting systems with a permanent paper record.

Just how the votes from the new machines would be counted was also a concern of some audience members.

Conacchio said she is not sure how the votes would be tabulated. “That’s still up for grabs,” she said, adding that one suggestion is that the optical scanner be opened up and the ballots taken out.

But Conacchio said she is not in favor of that because she does not want a “live” ballot touched by a poll worker.

Another idea being considered by the BOE is reviewing the vote count from the machine tape at the end of the night, Conacchio said. That method has a drawback, however, since the machine can run out of tape.

Residents and community officials offered their views about the new voting machines.

“In the months remaining in the run-up to the 2010 elections there is a lot of work to do to ensure voters are made familiar with the new machines and procedures,” said Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton. “I appreciate that the Board of Elections has begun coming out to communities to start providing information.”

Election poll worker Gloria Klieger of Howard Beach, who worked at John Adams High School in the last election, called the situation with the new voting machines “a big mess.” She added, “In my opinion, until it’s ironed out there will be a lot of problems.”

Last February, the city Board of Elections selected Elections Systems & Software’s DS200 Scanner and the AutoMark Ballot Marking Device to replace the Shoup 3.2 mechanical voting machine, used in city polling places for about half a century.

The ES&S DS200 scanner is a portable electronic voting system that uses an optical scanner to read marked paper ballots and tally the results. The system allows for paper ballots to be immediately tabulated at each poll site. The DS200 also notifies voters of any voting errors and allows them to immediately correct those.

The ES&S AutoMARK is a ballot marking device that allows any voter, including those with disabilities, to mark a paper ballot privately and independently by using either its touch screen, Braille-enhanced keypad, sip and puff device or rocker paddle. Voters may view the ballot on an adjustable screen or can listen to their choices being read over headphones.

The use of the optical scan voting machines the city intends to use in the September primary and November elections may be blocked if a recent lawsuit initiated by Nassau County succeeds. In court papers the county attorney said the state law requiring use of the new machines violates the state constitution.

According to court documents the county attorney said the law jeopardizes state elections by “disregarding highly regarded lever machines and substituting computerized voting technology that is notoriously vulnerable to systematic hacking, tampering, manipulation and malfunction.”

A nonprofit group called the Election Transparency Coalition says it is also preparing to file a lawsuit against the state. On its website, ETC says it “seeks a court declaration that concealed vote counting, as mandated by the Election Reform and Modernization Act, is unconstitutional” and that such a ruling would preserve the existing transparent voting system and establish a precedent for the rest of the nation.

Lamborghini Seen at the Ozone Park Nissan dealer....

Click on images to enlarge...

It's nice to know someone has money in these tough economic times...I was told that this car sold for $250,000....Incredible..!

What The Media Won't Show You About Tea Party Racism - YouTube

View on YouTube...



Tea Party Racism - Fake grass roots (astro-turf) organization grows out of a hatred and fear of non-whites and hatred of a black president.

First Meeting of the New 38th Assembly Regular Democratic Club at The Shops at Atlas Park - March 25th, 2010...

Goal: Push Strong Democratic Voice for All People in 38^th Assembly District

Club President Dolores (Dori) Capace address the audience.

Dozens of residents of the 38^th Assembly District showed up for the first meeting of the 38^th Assembly Regular Democratic Club last Thursday evening at the Shops at Atlas Park. Residents and Democratic Club board members talked about the importance of making sure local Democrats have a strong voice in city, state and national politics.

To start the meeting, one of the Club’s founders, Council Member Elizabeth S. Crowley said, “We need to come together as a community to support Democrats that represent our values and work to make sure our neighborhood has the voice it needs in New York City, Albany and Washington. We need to make sure our voice is heard loud and clear and we fight for people who represent our neighborhood well.”

NYC Council Member Elizabeth Crowley speaks.

Democratic District Leader Frank Kotnik talked about the importance making sure everybody had a platform to express their interests and talk about what issues area Democrats should tackle. “I want this Democratic Club to be a place where everyone can be with friends. We can talk about the issues that important to us and make sure we help elect people who share our priorities.”

The President of the 38^th Assembly Democratic Club, Dolores (Dori) Capace, said, “I have lived in this community for a long time and I believe we have a better hope for the future if we work together to bring about positive changes to our community.”

l. to r. President Dolores Capace, District Leader Frank Kotnik, Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, Secretary Lydon Sleeper, Doris Figliola, District Leader Eleanor Errante and David Slavkin.

The 38^th Assembly Regular Democratic Club will meet the last Thursday of every month at 7:30 at the Shops at Atlas Park. All Democrats are welcome. The Democratic Club plans on having a series of speakers to talk about politics in New York City, Albany and Washington and over the course of the next year they hope to have major candidates for state and federal races visit, as well.

Representatives from State Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman Mike Miller were also present at the meeting.

Senator Joe Addabbo Is a Grand Marshal of 21st Phagwah Parade in Richmond Hill...

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. was a Grand Marshal of the annual Phagwah Parade held by the Indo Caribbean Hindu community, on Sunday, March 7, which began at 133^rd Street and Liberty Avenue and ended at Phil Rizzuto Park (formerly Smokey Oval Field) in Richmond Hill.


Thousands of parade goers lined the route or gathered in the park for the festivities that included throwing colorful powder, water and confetti, to celebrate chasing away winter on the festival of Holi or Phagwah, and the start of the community’s new year.

State Senator Joe Addabbo & Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan Hold Free Health Fair in Ridgewood...

Co-sponsors Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (center), with health care workers and customers at Ridgewood Health Fair on Saturday, March 20, held at Trinity Reformed Church, 66-30 60th Place, corner of Palmetto Street.

On Saturday, March 20, Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., and Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan co-sponsored a free Health Fair at the Trinity Reformed Church, 66-30 60^th Place, Ridgewood. A vast array of free services were provided to ensure that individuals have the tools they need to lead healthy and active lives. Approximately 100 residents from the nearby area and from across Queens attended the event.

Services provided included: hearing and vision tests, blood pressure and glucose check-ups as well as a private AIDS screening. A nutritionist and cardiologist were on site to provide health counseling, as well as a licensed chiropractor. In addition, a representative from the Smoking Cessation Program at Elmhurst Hospital spoke with individuals about steps they can take to quit smoking. Community health professionals were also on hand to answer general questions and provide information on applying for Medicare, Medicaid, EPIC and Child Health Plus.

Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, Senator Joe Addabbo, patient getting blood pressure check-up by Wyckoff Heights Medical Center staffer at the hospital's table.

“This event benefited families and people of all ages by providing them with the vital healthcare services and information they need,” said Senator Addabbo. “It is essential that individuals have access to quality, affordable and essential healthcare services. Too often, lack of access to routine services and information can lead individuals to neglect their health. I hope this event highlighted the numerous resources in the community to help individuals and families provide for their health."

“I want to thank Senator Joe Addabbo for co-hosting and organizing this great informative Heath Fair,” said Assemblywoman Nolan. “Those that attended were able to get information and ask questions from the major health centers in and around Queens. Programs like this health fair, help residents of Queens to stay informed and get the assistance that they may need.”

Senator Addabbo and Assemblywoman Nolan with three Elmhurst Hospital staffers.

Those who helped make this event possible include: Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Elmhurst Hospital, AIDS Center of Queens County, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The EPIC Program, Child Health Plus, AARP, Ridgewood Communicare Clinic, Neighborhood Health Providers, Queens Health Center, Pearle Vision, National Children’s Study, New York Urban League, and many more.

Hair Cut and Shave - Before and After - Wednesday March 26, 2010...