We regret to inform our readers that Mark Pittman, Member of The Yonkers Ethics Board and a reporter for Bloomberg has passed away. Mark Pittman was the husband to Council President Lesnick Aide, Laura Fahrenthold. We send our most heartfelt condolences to Mark Pittman’s family and loved ones, during this tough time, especially during the holidays.

The Yonkers Insider

To read Mark Pittman Obit:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=afp8OC.OvRnI&pos=12

http://www.mountvernonexposed.blogspot.com/

WHAT: BOARD OF ESTIMATE PUBLIC HEARING/RALLY

WHEN: WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2ND, 2009

WHERE: MOUNT VERNON CITY HALL, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS

TIME: 7 P.M.

We have received credible information that Mayor Young and his staff
are attempting to stay below the radar and are secretly trying to pass
a budget without public input that will result in a 23% tax increase.

It is important that as many Mount Vernon residents as possible show
up outraged at the excessive taxation without representation.

Please bring your picket signs AND 2 tea bags. All major news media outlets
will be in attendance. Please forward this to as many residents as possible. Car pools are available. E-mail us at
mountvernonexposed@gmail.com

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/298476-manhattan-meets-fordham-in-102nd-battle-of-the-bronx

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

The Manhattan College Jaspers go on the road to play American University.

Manhattan Wins on the road and defeats American University by a score of 69-62. Manhattan is now 3-2 on the season and Manhattan will next play on Saturday Night, at Home against Fordham, in The Battle of the Bronx, The game starts at 7:00 P.M.

The Jaspers were led in scoring by Darryl Crawford, who had 26 Points, Top Recruit, Rico Pickett, who returned to the Jasper Lineup tonight had 13 Points and Antoine Pearson had 12 Points. The Jaspers showed some good signs tonight and with Rico Pickett back in the Lineup, We feel the sky is the limit for this team, if they keep progressing and getting better game by game, the sky is the limit.

The Yonkers Insider

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.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Readers.

We at The Yonkers Insider wish all of our readers a Very Happy Thanksgiving. We all have much to be thankful for. Let’s all thank our blessings on this holiday.

The Yonkers Insider

November 25, 2009

Hon. Members of the City Council
Yonkers City Hall
40 South Broadway
Yonkers, NY 10701

Dear Councilmembers,

I am writing to request that you consider approving a special ordinance for the terms and conditions relating to the $13,838,000 Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) ordinance for rehabilitation of physical facilities within the Yonkers Public School System as soon as possible. Final approval of these bonds before the end of this calendar year is critical in order to save our taxpayers millions of dollars in financing costs.

Let me begin by stating that I am well aware of your commitment to the continued rehabilitation of our school system’s physical facilities, which is evident by your ongoing commitment of capital resources including the bond issuance in question. Everyone agrees that our school buildings and classrooms are in desperate need of repair. However, a dispute between the City and the Board of Education over the Office of the Inspector General’s ability to audit the school district is threatening to undermine our collective effort to continue improving our schools.

You should know that I have repeatedly expressed my support for the Inspector General’s authority to audit the city’s school district, a position I have made known to the Superintendent and to the Board of Trustees. The Inspector General’s Office serves as a watchdog for our taxpayers and should have the ability to examine the hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually throughout the school district. I must also share with you my disappointment over the way the school district has handled its opposition to this issue. In particular, a letter sent just this week from the school district’s attorneys to Councilmember Murtagh was completely inappropriate.

But as you know, the Inpector General’s disputed audit authority over the school district is now a legal matter pending before the courts. Our Corporation Counsel is already seeking confirmation of the City’s position through litigation. We must afford the legal process the ability to settle this issue beyond just the present dispute, but also as a matter of posterity. In the meantime, we must continue to fulfill our responsibility to improve the school system. At present, that means acting with haste to approve the aforementioned QZAB ordinance.

On November 19, a memo was sent to you by the Department of Finance forwarding a timetable for final approval of the QZAB ordinance as outlined by the City’s bond counsel, Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLC. According to that timetable, the latest date the City Council may act to approve the QZAB ordinance in order to allow enough time for processing before the end-of-year federal deadline is December 22. Please keep in mind that the Commissioner of Finance also requires seven-to-ten days prior notification in order to prepare the bond sale. This leaves the City Council with very little time to express your intent to issue these approvals.

If the Council fails to issue final approval of these bonds prior to December 22, thereby failing to qualify for the interest free federal program, the Department of Finance estimates it will cost Yonkers taxpayers a minimum of $3 million dollars in extra financing costs over the life of the bonds. Simply put, we are running out of time and the City taxpayers and our public school students are on the hook. In order to avoid this scenario, I once again request that you issue final approval for the QZAB ordinance as soon as possible.

Please do not follow one bad decision by the school district with another one by the City.

Respectfully submitted,
Philip A. Amicone
Mayor

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/basketcase/2009/11/pickett-charges-back-into-jasp.html

“I am actively considering a run for the United States Senate and expect to make a final decision sooner rather than later. The ever-growing debt coming out of Washington is alarming.

It will have serious implications for New York and for the next generation of Americans. Priority number one in this country has to be debt reduction and long-term tax relief. That will be the major focus of my campaign should I formally enter this race.”

Liz Feld
11/25/09