Here is the statement that Nyack Mayor John Shields gave at the start of a community forum Wednesday that was organized to discuss recent gang-related violence and ways to help young people:

Rockland County is a large, diverse community that must strive to meet the needs of its diverse constituents. The recent fight on Franklin Street is not an isolated incident but rather a symptom of larger problems. Gangs and other forms of youth unrest are not restricted to Nyack, Spring Valley or Haverstraw, but exist throughout the county in all schools and in all of the neighborhoods. The solution, then, must include all of us in Rockland — the county, towns and villages.

Certainly anyone who is part of a street fight, endangering the lives and well-being of citizens, must take responsibility for it. This may include criminal charges and the consequences of these charges.

That said, we understand that the issue of gangs and why people join them has much deeper causes. Gang membership is indicative of disenfranchisement, alienation and “not knowing a better thing to do.”

To that end, we met with local community leaders who recommended the following:

1. An athletic/community center so that youth in the community would have a safe place to “hang out” and engage in positive activities.

2. A stronger police presence.

3. More jobs.

All these proposals are important in addressing the issue of gangs. The Village of Nyack does not have the resources to do any of this alone. As I said, this is a county-wide issue and should include county-wide cooperation.

This is a beginning. We as a community need to work together to expand these ideas by supporting positive programs like Head Start, the Youth Bureau and the Nyack Center, by helping families in need, and by sharing responsibility for the future of our youth and our village.

For tonight, however, we’ll focus on the local and immediate.

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Whoa! Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner is asking for some big bucks to party at his 50th birthday soirée June 7.

For a quarter page in the birthday “playbill” and one reserved seat, you gotta fork up $250. It’s $500 for a half page and two seats, and $1,000 for a full page and two seats.

Want the cream of the crop – a full page and four seats? Gotta throw down $1,500.

Kleiner promises a night of politically irreverent song, speech and comedy at the shindig, which will happen at Riverspace Arts in Nyack.

The money goes to the supervisor’s fundraising committee, Friends of Thom Kleiner. Gee, why would a seven-term supervisor who was easily re-relected in November need so much money in the bank?

Ten Haverstraw town and village police officers will be feted Friday on their retirements after decades of serving the public.

One officer in particular, Hector Soto, already has moved on in life to an elected councilman on the Haverstraw Town Board. Soto worked as a police officer for close to four decades and 36 years as a detective. He worked his share of robberies, shootings, rapes and homicide during his career. For many years, Soto was the county’s only Spanish-speaking officer – and constantly called by other departments.

On Friday, a retirement dinner will be held at the Patriot Hills course clubhouse in Stony Point.
Aside from Soto, the other town police officer- honorees are Detective Richard Janeli, Sgt. DannyFarrell and Officer William Harvey.

Six Haverstraw village officers who retired when the Haverstraw village police department disbanded two years ago and the town police force took over patrolling the village. They are Police Chief John Reilly, Sgt. Claudio Gatti, Sgt. Paul Hykas, Detective Sgt. Frank Alessio, Detective Vincent Ryan and Officer Richard Chorus.

And several other retirees – such as Detective Lt. Richard Rogers from the sunny shores and golf courses of Florida – and officers from across the department will attend the dinner.

Anyone interested in attending can call members of the planning committee – Dave Kryger, Jose Luna, Jorge Folch and Peter Connolly – at the Haverstraw Town Police Department at 845-354-1500.

Ramapo Town Clerk Chris Sampson has formally announced that he will challenge Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, in the Democratic primary for Jaffee’s seat this fall.

Sampson was one of several area Democrats who said this winter they were interested in the seat. The others were County Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, Suffern Mayor John Keegan, and former Legislators Patrick Withers and David Fried.

Jaffee and Rockland’s other state representatives are up for re-election in November. Jaffee is completing her first term.

The county’s Democratic convention is coming up in the next few weeks. We’ll be checking in with the four stragglers soon. Stay tuned.

The other day, The Journal News and LoHud.com ran an article on how much money various state Senators and Assembly members had gotten in what are technically called member items, but more colloquially called pork.

Our data desk has put together a searchable database that you can access here.

Rockland’s lone state senator, Thomas Morahan (R-New City), ranked in the top 10 of all state legislators in the amount of money he secured for projects and organizations in his home district.

He alone brought about $2 million to his district. For all of Rockland’s legislators combined — Morahan and Assembly members Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern; Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove; Annie Rabbitt, R-Greenwood Lake; and Kenneth P. Zebrowski, D-New City — nearly $3 million came to their constituents, though Morahan, Rabbitt and Calhoun also serve parts of Orange County, where some of those funds went.

Legislator Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia, has a penchant for really going to bat for causes he feels are not only worthy, but not getting the attention they deserve.

During budget season you often hear him trying to wrangle more money out of the budget for certain organizations, most notably the Hi-Tor Animal Care Center and Project Turning Point.

He helped honor the latter last night before the Legislature meeting when he and Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack present the group and it’s leaders with the Legislature’s Distinguished Service Award.

Operating out of Spring Valley since 1985, the group has provided services to thousands of homeless and runaway teens from every town in the county.

Having faced budget cuts from the federal, state and local levels, Project Turning Point currently operate a six-bed shelter as part of St. Agatha’s Home.

Do you think Suffern needs a full-time mayor? The only other Ramapo village with a full-time mayor is Spring Valley.

Both are “full-service” villages with their own police and highway departments. Suffern also has its own water and sewer facilities.

Spring Valley Mayor George Darden is paid about $102,000 annually. Suffern Mayor John Keegan, who is part-time, is paid $30,000.

How much would it be worth paying a full-time Suffern mayor?

Suffern’s village board will have a public hearing on Wednesday – 7:30 p.m., May 7, Village Hall, 61 Washington Ave. – on a planned 12.7 percent increase in water rates.

The idea is to reduce a deficit that grew to $631,000 since 2006. There was no deficit in 2005.

Village officials have blamed decreasing water use and increasing expenses of running the Water Department, for the deficit.

Is raising the water rates an acceptable answer?

Hillburn and the county are at odds over rebates that would be paid to Hillburn residents annually for 30 years. Hillburn Mayor Brian Miele said the village residents were to get the rebates – currently worth $80 per household – in return for allowing the county to build a sewage treatment plant in the village.

County Legislator Joseph Meyers wonders how fair that is considering that Hillburn will already be getting the benefits of a news sewer system that will also serve Sloatsburg.

Meyers was concerned that other sewer users in Ramapo, Clarkstown and a part of Orangetown would be subsidizing Hillburn’s rebates, and that over the years they could escalate to high figures.

What do you think?

The repercussions continue from a Spring Valley gang attacking Nyack gang members as a result of a gang-related bandanna snatching at Nyack High School.

Five Nyack High School students face disciplinary action for violating the district’s “Code of Conduct.” All five face superintendent’s hearings after being suspended from daily classes, district spokeswoman Gail Fleur said today. Fleur said she cannot disclose the names of the students, the potential lengths of suspensions or specifically how they violated the district’s “Code of Conduct.”

In a letter to the parents dated May 1, Nyack Schools Superintendent Valencia F. Douglas offers some vague insights. She discussed the Code of Conduct violations in terms of the students’ actions “apparently helped to fuel the fight in the village.” The letter goes on to state that, “We continue to have zero tolerance for students wearing any gang related apparel or expressing affiliation with a gang.”

Douglas’s letter also says only seniors will be allowed off campus during the day for the rest of the school year; students must wear their ID badges; and three additional security officers have been hired for the high school. She also wrote to parents that, “We will continue to work with the suspended students and their parents/guardians to ensure that our students are able to come to the campus in ways that are safe to everyone.”

The superintendent’s letter doesn’t discuss the issue of gang members attending district schools, but it is step up in reality from her initial e-mail to parents a day after the gang fight in the village of Nyack. In that e-mail, she assured parents that Nyack students weren’t involved in the fight. But she also said the high school would be a closed campus and security would be heightened in light of the fight.

Orangetown police burst that bubble by reporting the fight involved gangs from Nyack and Spring Valley. The police also stated the fight precipitated at the high school when a young woman wore a red bandanna around her neck, apparently boasting of affiliation with a Bloods street gang. A young man from a rival gang from Nyack yanked off the bandanna – a sign of disrespect and a gang challenge.

The girl called her Spring Valley boyfriend, a reputed gang member. By mid-afternoon, Spring Valley gangstas cabbed it over to Nyack, armed with bats, hammer claws and other weapons. Nyack’s gang members quickly organized and fights broke out, bringing in police from Orangetown, South Nyack, Clarkstown, the Sheriff’s Department, including officers on horseback. Police even set up a command post.

Among the five young men arrested, two attended Nyack High School.

Spring Valley and Nyack youths have a history of confrontation dating decades, regardless of gang affiliations.

Orangetown police were continuing to investigate the fight, looking for the young men who injured two Nyack residents with hammer claw blows and knifes. Detective Lt. James Brown said progress is being made and said the school district is cooperating, even though Orangetown police don’t have jurisdiction at any of the district schools. Clarkstown police have officers inside the Upper Nyack high school and the Middle School is under South Nyack-Grand View.

Another result of the gang fight has mobilized some Nyack elected officials and civic leaders to come up with programs for youths in the village – especially those who live in the Nyack Plaza apartments, which  has one basketball court. A meeting with the public is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Nyack Center on Broadway.

Residents United to Save Hillside (RUSH) is keeping the pressure on to try and stop a commercial park from being built along Route 304 in Pearl River. The group has launched a website that states its case against the proposed development and lets people know how they can help. It can be found at www.rushpearlriver.com.

The group also has scheduled several meetings in the community room of the Pearl River Library. The next meeting is tomorrow at 7 pm.

The Pearl River homeowners oppose the commercial park — which would include a warehouse and two storage buildings on 10 acres — because of potential problems with flooding and noise and air pollution.

Here is a recent story about the situation: Pearl River residents rally to fight commercial park

Neighborhood Cruisers, a Stony Point-based nonprofit group, found a new home for its Monday Cruise Nights.

The weekly event that runs through May to September had been based at Annie’s Snack Shack on Route 9W until last year. But the landmark restaurant was sold to a developer and a pharmacy and bank are under construction on that site.

Bob DuBois, president of the organization, said members looked for a new location and decided to move to Gennaro’s Restaurant at 146 N. Liberty Drive (Route 9W).

Jerry Garafolo, Genarro’s owner, said he was excited to be chosen by the club, which is known for its annual fundraiser for families in need, “Cruisin’ for Kids.”

“They are a bunch of great local people,” Garafolo, a Stony Point native, said of members of the organization. “I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to do my best for them. I look forward to every single Monday night.”

Garafolo said the restaurant would hold a barbecue night to coincide with the weekly car show.

The first cruise night at Genarro’s will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 5.

The event will welcome all classic, custom and special interest cars as well as trucks and motorcycles. People can also enjoy music and 50/50 raffle. Admission is free.

“I think it’s a great idea for everybody to come out and have fun, and support each other,” Garafolo said.

In case you missed it, Rockland Editorial Page Editor Nancy Cutler has an interesting look at the politics underlying the case of Avrum David Friesel, a fugitive for 11 years before the London Metropolitan Police captured him earlier this week.

Friesel, the former New Square village clerk and a son of the village’s only mayor, fled the Rockland and United States after being charged in a far-reaching scheme that bilked thousands of dollars from the federal government.

Despite how big the case was at the time, it took on an even larger dimension back in 2000, when Hillary Clinton was first running for the U.S. Senate and her husband pardoned four of those convicted in the case just before he left the presidency.

Hi there, I’m back again with the latest week in review podcast. Take a look below and feel free to leave a comment.

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Nyack will hold a community forum Wednesday to talk about the gang fights that took place on village streets last month involving between 40 and 50 teenagers.

The meeting was supposed to be held Monday, but was changed to accommodate the schedules of public officials. Nyack Mayor John Shields, the Nyack Village Board of Trustees, Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner, and Orangetown Police Chief Nulty among others will answer questions and hear comments and solutions from the public.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Nyack Center, 58 Depew Ave. For more information call Nyack Village Hall at (845) 358-0229 or the Nyack Center at (845) 358-2600.

This community forum comes about two weeks after Nyack leaders held a closed meeting about the fighting. Some members of the public wanted to attend, but were shut out. So was the press.

Here are a few stories about the melee:

In wake of gang fights, Nyack leaders ask how to help youth

Gang fights quelled by police

Police will show ‘colors’ as Nyack confronts gang issues

Last week Tuesday was a fun day for the Heart of the Hudson Girl Scout Troop 40603. Seven girls were awarded with certificates for their efforts to improve recycling throughout Clarkstown.

The girls noticed that many public spaces in Clarkstown don’t have recycling bins. So they pitched an idea for officials to place bins at all parks, community centers and ball fields. They were honored by Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack, Councilwoman Shirley Lasker and Jo Anne Pedersen, the superintendent of the parks and recreation department. The recycling bins will appear at public spaces in the coming months.

The girls who were recognized were:

Ariela Nazar-Rosen
Gabriella Napoli
Brittany Kiernan
Maria Battaglia
Corrine Quirk
Joanna Perez
Sarah Werbeck

Maureen O’Neill didn’t consider herself an environmentalist and kept out of public affairs until about a month ago, when a group of trees were cut in her backyard. Since then she’s been one of the key residents who have railed against Orange and Rockland Utilities’ tree removal program.

It’s been that kind of issue. The tree cutting program is one of those hot-button topics that comes along once in a while and really rivets a community and gets people to organize, write letters and call the newspaper. I’ve been getting calls from residents for the past several weeks.

Case in point: Last night 100 people filled a room at Orangetown Town Hall trying to get their voices heard at a community forum about the tree cutting. The crowd was so big it spilled out into the hall. Here is the related story.

Our Data Desk today updated LoHud’s database with March’s existing home sales for most New York counties, as reported by the state association of Realtors.

You can find the database here.

Basically, as has already been reported in The Journal News and on LoHud.com, existing home sales dropped 38.6 percent in Rockland from a year earlier, while the median sale prices dropped 3.6 percent to $462,500.

When I was on the phone with Stony Point Town Board member Geoffrey Finn on Friday, he told me about his frustrations related to the James A. Farley Memorial Bridge’s replacement project.

First of all, he did not like the fact that the recent two meetings, where a state Department of Transportation engineer explained the agency’s revised plans for the project, were held at 10 a.m. on weekdays. Finn said he wanted to participate but did not make it because he was working.
He also said the revised plan, which reduced the impact to the existing buildings along Route 9W compared to the original plans, would not be the best for the community because the plans would not address safety issues at the intersection of Route 9W and Main Street.

I participated in the April 3 meeting at Town Hall, and at that meeting, multiple people — including Stony Point Fire Chief Adam Feuer and Building Inspector Bill Sheehan — expressed similar concerns about the intersection, while George Potanovic, president of the Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment, complimented the revisions.  SPACE led the movement to save the Malloy building, which is located at the northeast corner of the Route 9W intersection.

Finn said he would contact the state agency to express his concern.

Check out the podcast below for this week’s top stories:


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Haverstraw Village Clerk Emma Velez told me yesterday that she wanted to remind residents that Village Hall at 40 New Main St., has been offering extended business hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays every month. The Building Department will be open until 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month.

The village started offering extended hours last month to “make village government more accessible to the people,” said Mayor Michael Kohut.

Velez said residents still didn’t know about the extended hours because not so many people were taking advantage of it.

Call Village Hall at 845-429-0300 for more information.

I’m preparing an article about Israel’s 60th anniversary. I’m looking for people who would be interested in being interviewed, particularly folks who were either there at the beginning, or have lived there for some time in their lives.

You can reach me at 845-578-2445 or jawalsh@lohud.com.

All together now: Awwww!

Meet Nyack, the new lion cub at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (totally cool place —  go if you’re ever out that way!):

This photo, shot by Ken Bohn for the San Diego Wild Animal Park, is of four-month-old Nyack (to the right). That’s his cousin, Ingozi, he’s saying hi to.

A boy, Nyack just moved to the park’s Lion Camp, having spent his life until now at the park’s nursery, where he was hand-raised. He was “born Dec. 6 following a difficult delivery.” Here’s a link to the video about how he was hand-raised and introduced to his fellow lions.

Any votes on what the next baby lion born at the park should be dubbed? Sparkill? Pomona? Tomkins? Leave your suggestions below!

In a letter to O&R, Baum — who has been protesting O&R’s tree-removal program — wrote: “This truly would have been funny, had your company not already caused so much suffering and pain to the people of Rockland County with its new ’scorched earth’ tree-cutting program.”

O&R says it is following a 2005 state mandate requiring them to remove trees that could threaten transmission lines and lead to power outages. Read more of this entry »