Tomorrow’s expected rain has pushed three Halloween celebrations to Sunday:

• The Chamber of Commerce of the Nyacks’ annual Halloween parade begins assembling at 3:15 p.m. Sunday — bands, floats and marchers assemble at the upper level of Memorial Park, at the corner of DePew and Piermont avenues.

• Haverstraw’s annual Halloween festival has been moved to noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Bowline Point Park.
• Sloatsburg’s annual Halloween parade has costume judging beginning at 4 p.m. and the parade at 5 p.m., at the entrance to the community fields by Route 17. The parade goes up Route 17 to the elementary school.

Pomona’s not changing its Halloween party, scheduled for 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Village Hall.

Suffern’s parade was already planned for 2 p.m. Sunday at the corner of Orange and Lafayette avenues, so it’s not changing. Costume judging, cider and donuts immediately follow the parade at the Virginia Menschner Gazebo on Washington Ave.

Have fun!

Members of the village board have been upset that Town Supervisor St. Lawrence and the Town Board decided to sell the quarry in Suffern without consulting the village.

The property is to be sold to a developer proposing at least 440 condominiums. Rhodes, Meyers, and James Hyer, their attorney, will explain the reason for the lawsuit during the conference.

St. Lawrence has said that alleviating floods along the Mahwah River – particularly in the Squire’s Gate neighborhood – was the impetus for the quarry sale.

A weeping cherry tree planted in May to honor Village Clerk Virginia Menschner is apparently taking its last gasp.

The now leafless tree in front of Village Hall may have been the victim of too much kindness, in this case a bit of over watering, a landscaping company has told village officials.

If it doesn’t revive, a replacement will be planted in the autumn or next spring.

The tree was planted by village employees in recognition of Menschner’s 50 years of service to the community.

Suffern Mayor John Keegan thinks it would be a good idea for residents to have a chance to tour the former Tilcon New York guarry where a developer wants to build at least 440 condominiums.

It’s a place that’s been off limits for decades while the quarry operated, so few residents have had a chance to see the property and the views of the Ramapo Mountains.

Want to take a look?

It’s may not be news to folks in Suffern who’ve kept tabs on such things, but it could be years before the Army Corps of Engineers, along with the states of New York and New Jersey, approve a multi-prong effort to keep the Mahwah River at bay.

The year 2013 was a date that Gerald Levitus, president of the Squire’s Gate homeowners association, recalled of a potential construction start-up, and that may not take into consideration the long list of projects that could come out of this year’s massive flooding in the Midwest.

The Army Corps of Engineers Web site shows that a Mahwah-Ramapo river project, based on a 1990 design, would cost $23 million in today’s money.

State Sen. Thomas Morahan, R-New City, has pledged New York’s cooperation and contribution to funding — both New York and New Jersey must sign off on any project, as well as Suffern and Ramapo — and he organized a meeting last week of interested local, federal and state officials to discuss the situation.

The second-most populous village in Ramapo appears to be at the cusp of a condominium construction craze.

Not only is the village looking to develop condominiums in an urban renewal site along Orange Avenue, but a builder has proposed as many as 440 in a spent quarry between Lafayette Avenue and the Thruway.

The latter plan is to be coupled with a flood-control project that would draw water from the Mahwah River, relief long sought, especially by residents of the Squire’s Gate neighborhood that was last swamped by Hurricane Floyd.

Some downtown merchants support the Orange Avenue project as bringing residents closer to their shops.

Do you have any concerns? Is increased traffic a worry? What about the water supply? How do Suffern folks feel about the potential of having a couple of thousand new neighbors?

Two incumbent Democratic trustees will likely be for up re-election next year – John Meehan and Andrew Haggerty.

Last year, a mayoral election year, the Democratic ticket ran unopposed.

Does one-party government work well enough for Suffern? Are there issues on which the incumbents – the entire village board and mayor – could be challenged? Have the village Republicans given up because there are more registered Democrats in the village?

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.

Here’s the latest Week in Review podcast. Beneath the video are links to the related stories, as well as links to downloadable PDFs of each article (the links expire once our articles move into the paid archives) and video, where available. Thanks for stopping by.

Download:

Fleetwood Elementary cheating: link here, pdf here.

Immigration forum: link here, pdf here.

Tappan Zee Bridge: link here, pdf here.

Neighbor helps Nyack woman escape fire: link here, pdf here, video here.

As promised earlier, here’s a full list of Rockland’s recipients of 2008 Community Development Block Grant funds:

• Spring Valley: $250,000 for the reconstruction of a park at Jay Street and Kennedy Drive.

• Ramapo: $150,000 to construct a handicapped-accessible pavilion and restrooms at Manny Welder Park.

• West Haverstraw: $100,000 for sidewalk replacement, lighting installation and landscaping on the Railroad Avenue corridor.

• Haverstraw village: $100,000 for new sidewalks, curbs, roadway, lights and other improvements on Main Street between Broadway and First Street.

• South Nyack: $100,000 to upgrade a storm drain system on Cedar Hill Avenue between Anna and Franklin streets.

• Haverstraw town: $75,000 for improvements to the pool deck at Bowline Point Park.

• Suffern: $50,000 for the construction of sidewalks and curbs on Ramapo Avenue from West Park Place to West Maltbie Avenue.

• Hillburn: $50,000 to help pay for a water system upgrade. The village has the oldest water pipes in Rockland.

• Piermont: $1,000 for a curb cut on the sidewalk at the public library, making the facility accessible to the disabled.

Image courtesy the U.S. Treasury Department, via the Associated Press.

While preparing its upcoming budget, the village will consider imposing larger water rate increases for commercial users than residential ones. The aim would be to reduce a $631,000 Water Department deficit, which has been blamed on increasing costs and decreasing consumption.

As it is now, all users pay the same rates.

Do you think there should be entirely different rates, one for residential customers and another for commercial ones?

Should there be a higher rate for commercial users such as Good Samaritan Hospital and Novartis?

Just wondering how folks around Ramapo feel about a street clock that the town paid to install in Suffern, one of seven installations that Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said were part of a beautification campaign.

Suffern Mayor John Keegan thinks the town ought to remove the recorded greeting: “This is Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence wishing you a lovely day.”

Tax dollars funded the clock – about $30,000 – and it was installed with Suffern’s permission.

Mayor John Keegan was initially enthusiastic – saw it as a nice, no-expense deal for the village – but now he isn’t so sure.

Some folks commenting on the story saw it as self-promotion by St. Lawrence.

What do you think?

Here’s a video for those who haven’t seen the clock:
Download:

Download:

Links to related articles:

Gregg Brie released without bail on charges of stealing $100,000 from woman
Philanthropist said to defraud P. River woman of $100G
Cops: Mom burned son, 7, in oven
Suffern Islamic house of worship divided
Nanuet Mall’s future in limbo

The Suffern Village Clerk’s Office will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. The office normally closes at 4 p.m.

Is there a demand for this in other communities? What about other offices as well? Should more government offices have expanded hours?

Over the past few years, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence directed his clout Suffern’s way on numerous occasions, for what would seem to be the benefit of residents.

He worked to get Avon Products to keep its research and development operation going in the village. He arranged to acquire the Tilcon quarry as a way to reduce the threat of flooding in the Squire’s Gate neighborhood. He offered to pony up some town cash to help buy the Schwarz property and keep it from development. He also worked to keep power plants out of the nearby Torne Valley.

So why didn’t more villagers vote for St. Lawrence? Six polling places had him lagging Anthony Mele, his unsuccessful challenger, by 386 votes, 940 to 554, according to unoffical results still being verified this week.

Why?

Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has returned a resolution to the Legislature on the county’s contribution toward the purchase of the Suffern property neither approved nor disapproved.

The Legislature voted June 5 to spend $500,000 on the property. Ramapo has already pledged $2 million and Suffern has agreed to borrow $1 million. The county’s resolution includes a clause that its contribution will be dependent on a state grant for the property, totaling $2.25 million.

Vanderhoef said in his message to the Legislature that there’s no apparent willingness on the owner’s part to sell the property and that the county can not legally purchase property without a market value appraisal.

The property, he continued, has also not been evaluated to determine if it meets the goals for the county’s open space program.

Because Vanderhoef has not signed or vetoed the resolution, it is considered approved.

By the way, I am writing “Schwarz” property instead of Schwartz, as written in all county documents, because, as my esteemed colleague James Walsh pointed out to me, the former owner’s name is was John Schwarz, not Schwartz.

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.

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) met today with the new state DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) commissioner, Alexander ‘Pete’ Grannis. On the agenda: flooding in Rockland and flood-control projects in Clarkstown and Ramapo.

Engel had a similar meeting last month with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the flood-control progjects, asking them to move foward on them, particularly Squires Gate.

Engel served in the state Assembly way back when with Grannis. Engel said his friend “promised to quickly review several flood control projects in Clarkstown and Ramapo that are pending.”

The Army Corps had told Engel that the Squires Gate project needed state approval before they could do their thing; Grannis promised to review it asap.

Other projects Engel spoke to Grannis about:

• Cranford Drive flood amelioration

• Elks Drive channel realignment projects

If you live in any of these areas, let us know what you think about the congressman’s efforts and how you fared in the recent storm.

The village board has voted to initiate study into whether a section of Orange Avenue could qualify for an urban renewal project – condominiums – that could be constructed by the Ginsburg Development Companies.

The section being studied is roughly between 120 Orange Ave. and Maple Avenue.

If the area, or part of it, is designated as a blighted area, the village could consider using eminent domain to acquire property for what it would see as the overall good of the community.

What do you think?

SUFFERN — For Mary Hussain, finding shelter from the pouring rain is a matter of flexible scheduling.

At about 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, the 46-year-old woman who lives on a plot of land in Nanuet was seated on a bench at the Rockland Community College bus stop.

Snugly dressed in a fur-lined, aviator-style jacket, she looked as comfortable as one could possibly be while sitting on a wooden bench inside the RCC lobby.

“It’s a little warmer than standing in the cold,� she said, smiling.

Hussain, for all intents and purposes, is homeless. So staying warm requires a bit of savvy planning on her part.

(Mary Hussain, 46, of Nanuet, waits at the Rockland Community College bus stop to stay warm and dry) … Read more of this entry »

SUFFERN — You could say these Suffern High sophomores are a bit awestruck. To them, the brainpower of the starting members of their academic league is a subject of serious admiration.

“They’re extremely smart,� 15-year-old Tony George says.

“Amazing,� 16-year-old David Benjamin says.

“They’re really devoted,� 15-year-old Jordan Manos agrees.

It’s about 12:10 p.m. and the Suffern High library is filled with dozens of chatting students on a lunch break during the annual Rockland County Academic Invitational.

And like a slow-motion scene from a movie on high school hierarchy, they turn their heads and all eyes seem to be on the guy wearing a black T-shirt with a pi symbol on it, the kid with the Le Tigre polo and the other one wearing blue.

(John Miele, 18, Mike Weinberg, 17, Eric Love, 17 and Mikalena Kenyon, 18, win first place in annual Rockland County Academic Invitational.)

Legislators Ilan Schoenberger, D-Wesley Hills, and Bruce Levine, D-Montebello, could have some thinking to do the Legislature approves a proposal to prohibit county legislators from being employed by the county or a Rockland town or village. Schoenberger is the Ramapo finance director and Levine is the Spring Valley village attorney.

The proposal, introduced by Legislator Patrick Withers, D-Suffern, isn’t aimed at any one legislator, but would eliminate the appearance of impropriety that comes with legislators holding both positions. The county already has a “two-hat” rule that prohibits legislators from also holding elective office in a Rockland town or village.

The proposal calls for the amendment of the “two-hat” rule to take effect in January 2008 so that anyone seeking election or re-election could make a decision before mounting a campaign.

Schoenberger, for one, agrees with Withers and is supportive of the idea. Levine, who had not heard of the proposal until he heard of it from The Journal News, said he thought Withers was proposing this on behalf of the political structure in Ramapo.

This structure, is said is threatened “because I present a challenge, a daily challenge to the system, to the way the county has operated,� he said.

Levine already has one person gunning for his spot next year—former Legislator Alden Wolfe. Levine soundly defeated Wolfe in last year’s primary. Wolfe recently announced his campaign to get his seat back and among his chief concerns was the fact that Levine is answerable to both the people of Rockland County and the village of Spring Valley.