A reader from West Nyack called today wondering why some libraries in Rockland are open today while others closed for Yom Kippur.

A good question, and one I didn’t know the answer to, so I asked ace reporter Khurram Saeed to find out.

Here’s his report:

Nyack Library Director James Mahoney was able to explain:

Every library is an independent entity. Their board of directors decides which days they will be closed.

Of the 17 libraries in Rockland, four chose to close today: Finkelstein, New City, Suffern and West Nyack.

Each library probably has its own reason.

Some may feel not enough patrons will show, but considering how diverse most communities in Rockland are, it’s hard to figure that’s the primary reason.

Mahoney said sometimes it’s done as a sign of respect.

For example, Nyack Library now closes on the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday in January, though for many years it was open on that day.

Another issue may be staffing. If a library has predominately Jewish employees who are taking the holiday off, opening on Yom Kippur might not be a viable option.

Last Sunday, I covered a ceremony honoring Beatrice Agnew, a well-known figure in Palisades. Agnew, 84, served as the director of the Palisades Free Library for 40 years but recently passed away. The ceremony featured touching speeches from close friends and family members who gave details on Agnew’s life. Fortunately, I brought my digital recorder along so I can share some of the highlights of the ceremony with you.

Download:

The Rockland Coalition for the Future is sponsoring a public forum next week called “Understanding RLUIPA.”

The featured speaker will be Doris Ulman, who serves as village attorney for Chestnut Ridge, Grand View, New Square and Pomona.

The purpose of the forum is to give background on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, commonly known as RLUIPA.

Here is a link to the federal Department of Justice’s explainer on the law. Here is a link to a site that supports the federal law. Here is a link to a site that opposes the law.

The forum will start at 7 p.m. May 1 (that’s next Tuesday) at the Suffern Free Library, on Route 59 in the village. Refreshments are available at the Library Café until 7:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

As usual, the Assembly Democrats got more money to spend on pet projects this year—commonly referred to as “pork,” but Republicans got more this year than last. About $2 million to be exact.

For more information on pork spending and the specifics of the statewide trends, click here for our recent Lohud.com story.

In Rockland, the late Assemblyman Kenneth P. Zebrowski, D-New City, secured the most pork funding—$153 million—to be spent on things like a new van for the Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation and new computers for Meals on Wheels.

Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove, came in second for the Rockland Assembly members, but out of $121,000, only three items totaling $17,000 were set aside for Rockland, not including money for the Ramapo-Catskills Library System which includes both Rockland and Orange counties.

Calhoun’s district includes all of Stony Point.

Annie Rabbitt, R-Greenwood Lake, set aside $18,096 and just four items of her $103,000 total for Rockland items, not including the Ramapo-Catskills Library system. Her district includes part of Ramapo.

Freshmen Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, brought home a total of $110,000 for things like renovations at the Airmont community center after school programs at the Nyack Center and the Martin Luther King Center.

Below is a full list of the Rockland Assembly pork:

Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove

$2,500, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County for youth programs.

$10,000, Town of Blooming Grove for senior center improvements and recreation equipment at Mays Field.

$10,000, Town of Chester for Sugar Loaf planning grant.

$5,000, Town of Cornwall to digitize historical archives.

$10,000, Town of Crawford for improvements to the town park.

$2,500, Town of Highlands for equipment at Fort Montgomery.

$7,500, Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps for defibrillators and pagers.

$7,500, Town of Montgomery for a video-surveillance system.

$8,500, Town of New Windsor for a backup generator.

$10,000, Town of Stony Point for programs.

$4,500, Town of Stony Point for an accident-investigation system.

$10,000, Town of Woodbury for senior center improvements.

$5,000, Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson for a commercial freezer door.

$2,500, Village of South Blooming Grove for start-up expenses.

$2,500, Village of Walden for programs.

$2,500, Village of Woodbury for start-up expenses.

$2,500, Rockland County Sheriff’s Dept. for sex offender-tracking software.

$5,000, Ramapo-Catskill Library System for a summer reading program.

$5,000, Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council for programs.

$3,000, Orange County Veterans Cemetery for equipment.

$5,000, Orange County Firefighters Museum for programs.

$121,000 total.
– – – – – – – – -

Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern

$2,000, Suffern Farmers Market for marketing and promotion.

$7,500, Village of Spring Valley for training classes.

$2,000, Orangetown Fire Company No. 1 to remodel the interior room.

$8,000, Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center for software and programs.

$10,000, Community Outreach Center of Monsey for a community patrol.

$7,500, Village of Spring Valley for the Jitney bus service.

$5,000, Community Action Program of Rockland for women’s programs.

$4,000, Community Action Network for a Drug-Free Life and Environment for counseling programs.

$15,000, Haitian American Cultural and Social Organization (Spring Valley) for a language-support program.

$8,000, Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center for software and equipment for an after-school program.

$5,000, Nyack Center for an after-school cultural program.

$7,500, Rockland County YMCA for after-school programs and field trips.

$9,500, Rockland Family Shelter for a teen workshop on abusive relationships.

$10,000, Village of Airmont to renovate a community center.

$4,000, Volunteer Counseling Service of Rockland to upgrade computer system.

$1,000, NAMI Familya of Rockland for support services for the mentally ill.

$4,000, Arts Council of Rockland for marketing.

$110,000 total.
– – – – — – – -

Annie Rabbitt, R-Greenwood Lake

$2,260, Pine Island Chamber of Commerce to plant trees.

$2,260, Campbell Hall Fire Dept. for equipment.

$4,524, Monroe Lakeside Fire Dept. for equipment.

$4,524, Town of Goshen for a fuel-dispensing system.

$4,524, Town of Hamptonburgh to construct a picnic area at a senior center.

$4,524, Town of Mount Hope for playground equipment.

$4,524, Town of Warwick to pave the area around an animal shelter.

$4,524, Village of Goshen for improvements to village hall.

$4,524, Village of Harriman for improvements to village hall.

$4,524, Village of Hillburn Dept. of Public Works for equipment.

$4,524, Village of Kiryas Joel for a radio repeater.

$4,524, Village of Monroe to plant trees in Crane Park.

$4,524, Village of Montebello for solar electric panels at town hall and for a 20th anniversary brochure.

$4,524, Village of Otisville to pave a municipal parking lot and for new curbs and trees.

$4,524, Village of Sloatsburg for software.

$4,524, Village of Suffern for Suffern Day.

$4,524, Village of Tuxedo Park to repair a dam.

$4,524, Village of Warwick for benches.

$4,524, Florida Police Dept. for security cameras at reservoirs.

$4,524, Greenwood Lake Police Dept. for computer upgrades.

$4,524, Wallkill Police Dept. for equipment.

$5,000, Ramapo-Catskill Library System for a reading program ($500 for each library in the system).

$4,524, Tuxedo Senior Center for renovations to the railroad station.

$3,000, Orange County Veteran’s Service Agency for cemetery equipment.

$103,000 total.
– – – – – – – -

Ken Zebrowski, D-New City

$10,000, Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation for a van.

$30,000, Village of Haverstraw for a new room at the Haverstraw Center.

$8,500, Village of Pomona for an emergency generator.

$50,000, Village of Spring Valley to replace the heating system at the Louis Kurtz Civic Center.

$2,900, Rockland Teachers’ Center Institute to purchase school supplies for needy children.

$5,000, Meals on Wheels of Rockland for new computers.

$5,000, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rockland for a gang-prevention counselor.

$3,100, Child Care Resources of Rockland for new computers.

$7,000, Community Action Program of Rockland for women’s programs.

$5,000, Haverstraw Ecumenical Project and Day Care Center for services.

$7,000, Interfaith Coalition for the Homeless of Rockland County for office equipment.

$8,000, Rockland Family Shelter for furniture.

$2,500, Star Kids (Garnerville) for a sports program.

$5,000, Volunteer Counseling Service of Rockland to upgrade the computer system.

$4,000, Arts Council of Rockland for office equipment and a newsletter.

$153,000 total.

to make a low budget film look like a million bucks.

On the set of “Elan� today at the Haverstraw Marina, Spring Valley local filmmaker Michael Cesaire says if it weren’t for Rockland’s residents, he’d be spending thousands.

(Gianna Dazza, 21, a student at the Capri Cosmetology Learning Center in Nanuet, shows 6-year-old Gabrielle Kaufman her makeup. Kaufman plays the character Elan.) … Read more of this entry »