We’ve reported on two red swastikas that were found spray-painted on trees on South Mountain Road in New City.

The Nazi symbol angered residents in the Lake Lucille community on South Mountain Road, but they responded to the vandal(s) with humor. Barry Carl, president of the Lake Lucille Property Owners Association, said they covered the symbol of hate up with hearts.

Clarkstown police Detective Sgt. Bernard Cummings said investigations were still continuing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clarkstown Police Department Detective Bureau at 845-639-5840.

(The photo with a heart was contributed by Barry Carl.)

New City residents who were waiting for South Mountain Road to reopen yesterday, Aug. 25, will have to wait at least another week, Clarkstown’s Department of Environmental Control said.

The road has been closed to thru traffic between Hemlock Trail and Tioga Court. The town planned a culvert replacement project beginning Friday, July 25, but work was delayed because workers unexpectedly came across a gas main, said Rich Westervelt, an engineer with Environmental Control. That caused a couple of week’s delay in starting the project.

But workers have apparently been working hard to fix the problem as soon as possible. The street is expected to be open to the public again before the start of school, Westervelt said.

Here’s the Week in Review, ladies and gentlemen.

Podcast file:

Flash video:

Links to related articles:

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Just a reminder:

The Brandon Berman blood drive will be held tomorrow, Aug. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the New City Ambulance Building, at 200 Congers Road in New City. The drive was named in honor of Berman, a New City teen who died in a car accident on the New York State Thruway on July 12, his 19th birthday.

For more info on blood donations and drives, contact the New York Blood Center at nybloodcenter.org or 1-800-933-2566.

The Memorial Day parade in New City this year will take a detour from its decades-old route.

For 60 years, the parade has stepped off at the intersection of Collyer Avenue and South Main Street, heading up Main to the lawns of the county courthouse.

But safety concerns have prompted the town to make the change, moving one-third of the route to Maple Avenue. Main Street is in disrepair, officials said, with crumbling sidewalks and blacktop-filled potholes creating an uneven surface. The road will be repaved this summer as part of a hamlet revitalization project.

So instead of having anyone trip and fall on the roadway, the decision was made on the advice of the town’s safety officer and insurance agent. Check out Hema Easley’s story tomorrow on LoHud.com and in The Journal News for the full details.

And, after the break, a full list of Rockland’s Memorial Day parades and events:

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

John Maloney is in the middle of a busy weekend. The Clarkstown Councilman was selected to receive communion from Pope Benedict XVI today and to help give communion at Yankee Stadium tomorrow.

“It’s, I think, very special,” Maloney said. “I’m very happy about this great opportunity.”

Maloney said he was ordained by the Archdiocese of New York in 1973, the first class of deacons. It just so happens he became a Clarkstown councilman that same year. He’s also been a deacon at St. Anthony’s Church for many years and serves as a chaplain for the Rockland County Jail and local fire departments.

Today, he looked forward to sitting “in the first pew, center aisle,” at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to receive communion from the pope and bring up the gifts for the Mass.

Tomorrow, he expects to board a bus from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers at 7 a.m. and head to Yankee Stadium, where he will help give communion to about 60,000 people during Mass.

To commemorate Earth Day, the Great American Cleanup starts this weekend and other events will be held through the week next week.

You can read this article by staff writer Laura Incalcaterra about the events, but here’s a quick list:

Saturday

• The Palisades Community Center, 675 Oak Tree Road, holds an Earth Day Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The emphasis will be on “reduce, reuse and recycle,” and there will be a tag sale, children’s events, and recycling collection areas for used cell phones, ink jet cartridges, eyeglasses and sunglasses, and household batteries. Adults and children can submit a design by noon and a winner will get to paint a Keep Rockland Beautiful trash can.

• The Great American Cleanup, organized locally by Keep Rockland Beautiful has several cleanups that welcome walk-in volunteers who don’t have to sign up in advance. The meeting places:
8:30 a.m.-noon: Hillburn Youth Center, 77 Fifth St.
9 a.m.: Congers Station Park, Lake Road; Montebello Village Hall, 1 Montebello Road; Farley Middle School, Route 210, Stony Point; Suffern Village Hall, 61 Washington Ave.; Back to Earth Natural Foods Market, 306 S. Main St., New City.
10 a.m.: Nanuet train station, off Prospect Street; Orangetown Town Hall, 26 Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg.
11 a.m.: Spring Valley Commons parking lot, off Slinn Avenue.
Noon: Corner of Maple and Twin avenues, Spring Valley.
Get more information at online or by calling 845-708-9159.

Tuesday

• Nyack Earth Days begin. Costume-making workshop for April 26 parade, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; panel discussion on solar energy and greening your home or business, 7 p.m. At Nyack Center, Depew Avenue at South Broadway. Free.

• Rockland Community College’s Earth Day Information Fair, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., outside the library. Local environmental groups and vendors of environmentally friendly products, such as hybrid cars, will be present. Live raptor show and a disc jockey. Food, prepared by students in the hospitality program, will be available for $5 per plate.

• Hungry Hollow Co-op, Route 45, Chestnut Ridge, holds an open house, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free samples of earth-friendly household-cleaning products, and information about sustainable agricultural practices.

Some of you might remember how several residents on a Congers street were fuming when they found out that Orange and Rockland Utilities planned to remove 50 to 70 trees in their neighborhood. I wrote about it last summer and staff writer Hannan Adely recently wrote about similar issues in Orangetown and Clarkstown:

Trees come down; homeowners not happy
Residents have two more weeks to fight tree clearing

You can also check out a video of a recent protest in Blauvelt here.

Now that the issue has resurfaced, Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack said he plans to reach out to the state Public Service Commission again to ask them to reconsider the tree removal policy. He also said he wrote a letter today to Gov. David Paterson seeking his support.

Gromack said in a statement: “While we work to preserve open space, the PSC mandates the destruction of trees. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Last summer, Gromack wrote to the PSC when he found out that hundreds of trees were slated for removal. He asked the state to revert back to the tree trimming policy they instituted prior to the blackout in 2003, which was caused when a tree fell on transmission wires in Ohio. The state never responded. We’ll have to see what happens this time.

The Clarkstown Town Clerk’s Office will be holding mobile office hours on Sunday, April 6, for people who can’t make it to Town Hall during regular business hours. If you need a dog license, handicapped parking tag or other services, you can find Town Clerk David Carlucci at the Rockland County Youthfest at the Rockland Community College Fieldhouse in Suffern from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.clarkstownclerk.com or call 845-639-2010.

Podcast file

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Animal experts warn against Easter pets

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Yes, it’s true. Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack will give a state of the town address at the New City Chamber of Commerce meeting this Wednesday. In fact, Erika Moschetti, who works in the supervisor’s office, said the supervisor delivers his speech to civic associations and other neighborhood groups every year.

So, if you missed it the first time, this would be a good opportunity hear what he has to say about recent and future developments within the town. (If you can’t make it this week, however, you can always check out my podcast on Gromack’s official state of the town speech, which he gave Jan. 3 at Clarkstown Town Hall.)

The speech will include issues specific to the hamlet, such as the revitalization of the old Bradlees shopping center, improving the downtown area and other future projects in the area. The meeting will be held at the New City Library at 7 p.m.

Download:

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Don’t forget that the next public forum on developing Clarkstown’s comprehensive plan is scheduled for this Thursday at Clarkstown North High School. Officials said they’re looking for suggestions from residents on what should be included in the comprehensive plan, which they want to complete in 2009. Some of the topics include housing, recreation, transportation and cultural resources.

The workshop begins at 7 p.m. and ends around 9:30 p.m. and is one of several meetings to discuss the plan.

UPDATE: The meeting was actually held on Monday, Feb. 4 and we missed it. There is no meeting scheduled for Thursday. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Just a reminder that Clarkstown officials are holding their next public forum on developing the town’s comprehensive plan on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Congers Community Center. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and last until about 9:30 p.m. People are invited to offer suggestions on topics such as housing, recreation, transportation and cultural resources.

The workshop is among several meetings that officials are going to hold in Clarkstown to get input from the public. Town officials said they hope to complete the comprehensive plan in 2009.

In fact, Clarkstown officials plan to spend much of 2008 studying, consulting, planning and evaluating. There’s the energy audit, the mall study, the parks and recreation forums and housing for volunteer emergency services among many other issues the town is looking at.

As Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack said in a phone interview yesterday afternoon: “2008 is the year of the plan.”

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• Rockland’s first baby of the year born at Nyack Hospital


• Rockland’s ‘Crow House’ named national historic site


• Pearl River family of 4 loses home in fire


• Repairs to weak spots on Tappan Zee Bridge will begin in spring

So I’m filling in for Christina Jeng for this week’s Week In Review podcast while she produces the Year In Review podcast. You can find the Year In Review podcast on the Inside Rockland blog on Jan. 1. Enjoy!
Download:

Links to related articles:

• Local Pakistanis stunned by Bhutto assassination


• Clarkstown officials to consider removing New City mural as part of revitalization project


• Spring Valley store owner accused of unlicensed alcohol sale, illegal gambling

Gobble gobble, I’m back and here with another Week In Review.

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After the break, check out the links to related articles, videos and blogs. Note: These Week In Reviews only show portions of the videos our photo staff puts together, so be sure to view the full videos by clicking the links.

Local rap artist Stephen Redmond called me a week or so ago to let me know his new YouTube video is up. If you recall, the artist, who calls himself Lucky Me, offended New City residents with his first video, “I Love New City.” Residents said it incorrectly depicted the hamlet as full of rich teenagers using cocaine. (I wrote about that issue back in June. You can read the story here

The new video is called, LUCKYME RESPONSES TO THE HATERS AND ALL THE PAPARAZZI, and is the 4th or 5th response Redmond has posted to the first video.

The latest video focuses on some of the media attention the artist received, with clips from Channel 12 and CBS segments and a glimpse of the article written by yours truly. Redmond reasserts that his video was a way to thank some of his fans for supporting his music and that he didn’t mean to offend anyone. The new video has about 750 views so far, versus about 15,500 views of the first video.

Some would prefer it if no one watched the videos, like Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack, who said the video wasn’t an accurate reflection of the hamlet at all. “I think it was probably in poor taste and I just wish those young adults would have channeled their energy into something more productive,” he previously said.

After my story came out, I received a few e-mails from people who said Redmond was a rude liar.

One e-mail said:

“i read the article you did on the “rapper” lucky me and let me tell you something hes a terrible person dont let his lies fool you or the public…he destroys peoples image in society, all these kids are so hurt by this”

There you have it. Those are a few different views on the issue. Anybody have any other opinions or comments to add?

Phew! Took me forever, but I finally successfully uploaded the video interview I did on the Rockland 11 mural project. If you were here, you’d see me bowing with a smug smile across my face and perspiration dripping down my cheek.

Two days ago, I was imagining a timely blog entry with a fancy link to reporter Amisha Padnani’s story on the issues surrounding the mural followed by the amazingly edited video by yours truly not knowing how truly difficult it would be to actually post. Sigh! But here it is, the fruits of my cubicle labor. Of course you can see the video on our video section, but blogs are just so much more personal you know?

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A group of 11 artists partner with Keep Rockland Beautiful and the town of Clarkstown to complete a series of murals on the 130-foot-long wall near Maple Avenue and Congers Road in New City. The artists, all from Rockland, each had a 12-by-6-foot panel of concrete to paint on, which they could use for personal, social or political depictions or commentary. Video by Christina Jeng

County Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, will host an outdoor community forum from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in front of DeCicco’s Marketplace at 180 South Main Street in New City.

Also scheduled to attend are representatives from the Little Tor Neighborhood Association, the New City Chamber of Commerce and the New City Hamlet Center Vision Plan Advisory Committee.

In a news release issued today, Day said the forum would provide “one stop shopping” for residents looking for information about the issues affecting the community.

Former President Bill Clinton will be on his own tomorrow at a fundraiser for his wife’s presidential campaign. Scheduled for 6 p.m. at the New City home of Democrat Rosina Rubin, tickets to the event range from $1,000 a person to just under $5,000.

“But there’s not many $1,000s. They aren’t encouraging $1,000s,” Vince Monte, the Rockland County Democratic Committee chairman, said today.

Monte, one of the dinner’s hosts, said he’s expected between 75 and 100 people to attend.

“There’s a lot of money going out of the county tomorrow,” he said.

Vinnie Reda, Rockland Republican Committee chairman, took a break from his Cocoa Beach, Fla., trip to read off the names of the Republican candidates vying for Clarkstown seats.

They are: Frank Borelli Jr. and John Miele for Town Board; Wayne Ballard, an incumbent, for superintendent of highways; and Duncan Lee and Thomas Mascola for town justices.

“I’m very exicited,” he said. “I think we have a wonderful selection of candidates.”

Vincent Monte, Rockland Democratic Committee chairman, said the party was still screening candidates for Clarkstown seats.