The Yonkers Insider

WESTCHESTER COUNTY LEGISLATORS CHAIRMAN RYAN LED DELEGATION TO MEET WITH FEDERAL HOUSING MONITOR.

(White Plains, NY) ~ Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman William J. Ryan (D, WFP-White Plains) led a delegation of legislators to New York City to meet with the federally-appointed monitor overseeing the implementation process of the fair housing settlement agreement, approved by the county in September, on Wednesday. Chairman Ryan, along with Majority Whip Judy Myers (D-Larchmont), Legislators Lyndon Williams (D,WFP-Mount Vernon), John Nonna (D-Mount Pleasant) and Peter Harckham (D-Katonah) met with Mr. Johnson for more than an hour and discussed initial elements and progress being made on the proposed implementation plan, as well as meeting the affordable housing needs throughout the county. “The meeting with the monitor today was part of the ongoing process to develop the implementation plan required by the housing settlement by the end of January,” said Chairman Ryan. “During this transition period, moving from one Administration to the next, the Board will ensure the continuity needed within the process.”

The settlement was in response to a lawsuit brought against Westchester County by the Anti-Discrimination Center (ADC), accusing the county of making false statements on federal applications about its efforts to integrate housing. The approved settlement requires Westchester to spend $50 million over seven years to build 750 fair and affordable housing units, in areas that are overwhelmingly white and affluent. The agreement, also, calls for a federally-appointed monitor, James Johnson, to assist the county in creating a housing implementation plan to meet these goals. “It was an extremely positive exchange with Mr. Johnson where we had a frank discussion on implementation issues – especially the need for local workforce housing to get buy in from municipalities,” said Legislator Harckham.

“It is of utmost importance that we keep the ball rolling during the transition from one county executive to another, as we face significant challenges in meeting the approved timetable,” said Legislator Myers. Given the dynamic of a new Administration and with the Legislature’s best efforts being utilized to pass a county budget on time, the county received an extension finalizing an implementation plan from December 8th to January 30th, which was approved. “I was pleased to meet with a committee of the Board of Legislators and am encouraged by their continued commitment to this process,” said Johnson. Johnson, a partner at the New York City law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, served as Undersecretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration and was most recently appointed by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine to head a commission to investigate charges of racial profiling by the New Jersey State Police. “Upon approving the settlement, the county had a small window to craft an implementation plan. However, we felt that we needed additional time, given our budget timeline, to create a plan that would meet these goals set before us,” said Legislator Williams. “I’m glad that we’ve been able to meet with the monitor and continue the dialogue surrounding this implementation plan.”

Additional news and video available at www.westchesterlegislators.com/mediacenter

Strong Second Half Sends Manhattan Past American.

Crawford Carries Jaspers with Season-High 26 Points.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jaspers’ senior Darryl Crawford (Harlem, N.Y./All Hallows) led Manhattan (3-2) with a season-high 26 points and six rebounds to earn a 69-62 victory over American (0-6) on Wednesday at Bender Arena.

Rico Pickett (Decatur, Ala./Alabama/Miami Dade CC) helped generate a second half charge scoring 11 of his 13 points in the period as Manhattan picked up its second straight victory.

Senior guard Antoine Pearson (Bronx, N.Y./St. Dominic’s) also gave the Jaspers solid production in the backcourt dishing out a career-high seven assists to go along with his 12 points and six rebounds.

Manhattan got defensive on the Eagles forcing 23 turnovers, which were turned into 29 points. Pearson tied a career-high with five steals, while Crawford and Brandon Adams (Yonkers, N.Y./Kent School)swiped three apiece. Manhattan had 16 steals as a team.

The Jaspers’ defense began clicking immediately to help the team roll out to a 14-1 lead five minutes into the game. The initial scoring surge featured a pair of 3-pointers by Patrick Bouli(Cameroon/Massanutten Military Academy).

American missed its first eight shot attempts and turned the ball over six times before getting its first field goal of the game from freshman Mike Bersch at the 13:06 mark.

The Eagles eventually found theirshooting stroke to finish the first half strong. American hit 12 of its next 16 field goal attempts (75%) and used a 12-2 run to pull within three points (16-13) at 8:26.

Manhattan got some big buckets from Crawford and Pearson to rebuild a 25-18 advantage, but American had one last rally in the tank. It closed the half with an 11-2 run featuring back-to-back 3-pointers Bersch and freshman guard Daniel Munoz. The Eagles took a 29-27 lead into the break.

Bersch led the way with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. He had 16 points in the game.

Manhattan burst out of intermission making a 13-3 run to regain the advantage it would hold the rest of the way.

Adams capped the surge with a mid-range jumper giving Manhattan a 40-32 advantage at 13:11.

Pickett’s jumpers started falling midway through the second half as they helped silence American’s comeback bids.

The Eagles got its deficit down to just four points with less than nine minutes remaining, but the next time down court Pickett called for the ball transition and buried a 3-pointer to extend the Jaspers lead to 51-44 at 8:45.

Manhattan led by as many as 11 points in the second half on Crawford’s breakaway jam with 52 seconds remaining (65-54).

It was the 10th time in Crawford’s career that he delivered a 20-point performance. Heshot 9-for-17 and converted 7-of-11 free-throws.

The Jaspers shot 46.7% (14-30) in the second half after struggling in the first half going 33.3% (11-33)from the field. Manhattan got 17 points in transition and 28 in the paint.

American received a great effort upfront from 6’11” sophomore Riley Grafft. Grafft finished with a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Manhattan returns home to Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday for the 102nd“Battle of the Bronx” with cross-town rival Fordham. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

City Council Approves Sustainable Building Legislation.

Council and City’s Green Policy Task Force Work Together to Bring Yonkers into Forefront of Environmental Civic Responsibility.

Yonkers, NY: November 24, 2009 – The Yonkers City Council, in cooperation with the City’s Green Policy Task Force, passed new legislation tonight to create one of the most comprehensive sustainable building laws in the nation. The legislation passed by a vote of five to one.

When signed into law by Mayor Phil Amicone, green building standards will minimize adverse local and global environmental impacts with new building requirements.

Yonkers Green Policy Task Force Chairman Robert M. Walters, who is also director of the Science Barge for Groundwork Hudson Valley, applauded the legislation.

“As a leader in green building technology, the city will become even more of a destination point for new businesses and residents who value our historic past and our vision for a sustainable future,” Walters said.

“This bi-partisan legislation was developed by the City’s Green Policy Task Force with input from the administration as well as from Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin, Councilmember John Murtagh and me based upon proposed bills that we had each submitted,” explained Council President Chuck Lesnick. “The final product comes after much consultation and deliberation and my thanks go out to the volunteers who comprise the GPTF.”

Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin remarked, “With all of the recent and proposed development for Yonkers, this legislation will help make our community sustainable for generations to come. With more and more carbon emissions originating from buildings
than cars, this legislation takes a major step forward in improving our environment.”

The Sustainable Building Local Law states that nearly every new or substantially rehabilitated commercial, civic or residential structure in Yonkers will have to meet a formally recognized and quantifiable standard for sustainable building.

a. One to three family homes will need to conform to the Energy Star
building standards defined by New York State through its NYSERDA (New
York State Energy Research and Development Authority) program.

b. Commercial, large-scale residential, institutional and civic buildings will be mandated to achieve third-party verification of sustainable building
standards through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program Green Globes, or another substantially similar standard.

The Yonkers City Council and the City of Yonkers Green Policy Task Force believe that this new legislation will benefit the community by having buildings constructed and/or substantially rehabilitated to conserve energy and become resource-efficient.

The intent of this new law is to:

a. Reduce production and proliferation of greenhouse gases;

b. Reduce the measurable drain on existing and limited energy, storm water and potable water, transportation and infrastructural resources;

c. Reduce the production of solid waste (trash and garbage);

d. Ensure that those who develop and occupy buildings and facilities in the City of Yonkers assume responsibility for the environmental impacts of their actions; and

e. Provide that developers and occupants are notified that the City of Yonkers is taking a leading role in promoting environmental sustainability and energy conservation.

All buildings that receive governmental benefits, defined in the new law as land, funding, tax exemptions, tax abatements, payment in lieu of taxes, Tax Incremental Financing (TIF), variance from any requirement of the City Code, re-zoning, zone creation, amendment to the Zoning Code or planned urban redevelopment zoning, must also meet these new standards. It is estimated that 90% of new or substantially rehabilitated buildings will be covered by the new law.

Yonkers joins Babylon, NY; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA and many other American cities in the adoption of sustainable green building standards.