Letter: Taking Action To Repair Gazebo

I’m writing this three days after the destruction of our beautiful Morgan Park. My group and I are given the park once a year to put on a car show, to raise money for many causes. We are the Gold Coast Cruisers. The city of Glen Cove and Darcy have always been behind us 100 percent. And I think they know how much the park means to us! We cannot sit by and hope it is repaired. All of us are brokenhearted! Let’s repair the gazebo, it’s a part you can’t leave out. So to show our thanks we are giving the city $4,000 to help, and hope some others step up and help out too.

Don “Figgie“ Figliozzi
President of the Gold Coast Cruisers

Letter: Glen Cove PTSA In Compromising Position

At a recent Glen Cove Board of Education meeting, the president of the PTSA rose to speak. She started by asking a series of rather odd questions – directed at the new board president – that had the strong feel of being entrapment or designed  to embarrass. The board president dealt, surprisingly, with these very professionally.

The speaker finally stated that she (heard by the people present and reported in the press) “cannot and will not work with” the new board president. At that point, regardless of any past, present or future statements, this person created a direct personal adversarial relationship with the school board and the administration. From that point on any discussion by this person with the administration or the board, or any public statement will be suspect and considered (real or not) to have a private agenda thus making her ineffectual as president of the PTSA.

Letter: Sunshine As President?

At the July 2 board of education meeting, Joel Sunshine, Grady Farnan, Ida McQuair, and new member Donna Brady were the majority of members who voted Mr. Sunshine in as president of the Board of Education. Gail Nedbor-Gross and Dave Huggins voted against. Barrie Dratch was absent.

Just two weeks prior, at a board of education meeting that was attended by more than 150 people, Mr. Sunshine publicly stated he would not give in to the “mob” of people at the meeting who were there to take an active interest in their children’s education. He also stated that he would always vote inline with administration even if it is against his own opinion and feels that “laypersons” should not be making decisions regarding education.

Letter: Oppose The Villa Project And Abusive Re-zoning

The outrageous over-development in Glen Cove is very disturbing. With thousands of new apartment units having recently been built as well as those on the drawing board, current status being either approved or proposed, our North Shore Gold Coast suburban countrified town is becoming congested and densely populated with excessively proportioned towering mega-structures and with overwhelming traffic. The results of which are causing an enormous burden on our schools, police, fire, sanitation, sewage and water availability in addition to strains on all other municipal services. One would think that the developers would be contributing to our tax roll and that their anticipated influx of tax revenue would contribute to support the needs required to sustain these services. But that is not the case. The developers have been made exempt from paying taxes! Instead they have been given a gift called a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes). That means they will be paying only a fraction of what their actual tax would normally have been. Instead, you, the taxpayer, will be paying for these additional services. These PILOTs go on for many, many years. Unbelievable! One needs to ask, “Why?” Do you think that the generous contributions coming from the developers, their friends and their families given to certain political bureaucrats may have something to do with it? Is that why these bureaucrats change the laws, the zoning and the codes to suit the developers? Is that why we have abusive and erratic zoning changes? Is that the philosophy known as “Pay to Play?”

Letter: Open Letter To County Executive Mangano - Take Youth, Seniors Out of Equation

I am reaching out to you, County Executive Edward Mangano, to suggest that we come together in a bipartisan manner and remove youth and senior services - along with all critical human service programs on the chopping block - from our debate over borrowing.

It is not justifiable to the people of Nassau that somehow this particular 0.15 percent of the 2012 budget has become mixed up with the fact that you want to borrow the better part of a billion dollars. The budget lines for the human services you are cutting have nothing to do with your borrowing.

From The Desk Of Assemblyman Charles Lavine: July 12, 2012

2012 Legislative Session Addressed Major Issues For Families In The 13AD

Together with Governor Cuomo, we got important things done this past legislative session that will not only boost New York’s business climate, but will help individual families thrive in the great Empire State. As a result, North Shore families will benefit from numerous new laws that will reduce their taxes, support their educational needs and keep their communities safer.

In March, I helped pass the second consecutive on-time state budget, which closed the state’s $3.5 billion budget deficit without any new taxes, fees or gimmicks. This year’s budget included measures to boost the economy and create jobs, all while holding spending under 2 percent. I worked to make sure we funded programs that help hardworking families find good-paying jobs, while rebuilding our state’s crumbling infrastructure and supporting minority- and women-owned business enterprises.

Covering All Bases: July 5, 2012

A Demand Of Environmental Scientists

Dear Scientists,

Last Sunday, I spent the most peaceful, serene and pleasant time, sitting beneath a tree in my backyard. The temperature was a perfect 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the skies were a pristinely colored blue and the cool and gentle breeze was just blissful. There were no phone calls to make, no errands to attend to, and no traffic jams to fight through. I sat there with my feet up, reading on my tablet computer. If there truly can be paradise on earth, this was it. So scientists, I implore you, please find a way to extend the summer.

I know that climate change is a serious problem that many of you are working on to solve. Well, if you’re fixing it anyway, just don’t put things back to the way they were with colder winters and more snowy days. Instead, if you’re going to work on it, do it right. Let’s have summer extend from March until October. Please figure out a way to make this environmentally feasible.

Not So Humble Opinion: July 5, 2012

Confession: Scared To Watch Commercials

Readers of this column may know that I enjoy some good TV, and even some bad TV. However, what you probably don’t know is that I won’t watch anything unless it’s been recorded, so I can fast forward through the commercials. It’s not that I don’t have the patience to wait out the commercial break, or even mind watching most commercials: it’s that I’m absolutely terrified that a certain kind of commercial will rear its insidious, anxiety attack-provoking head.

Letter: Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton’s Winning Pitch

Delia delivered another no-hitter in last week’s Record Pilot applauding the Long Islanders who called for legislation aimed at stopping prescription drug abuse.

Delia is one of the few legislators in either county to go on record in a public way to expose the drug epidemic that is taking the lives of so many of our young.

From The Mayor’s Desk: June 28, 2012

PRIDE Graduation

On Tuesday, June 12, I was privileged to attend the PRIDE Ceremony at both Landing and Connolly Elementary Schools. The Peer Resistance Instruction and Drug Education program, also known as P.R.I.D.E., helps develop and enhance children’s ability to lead a drug free life. With the collaboration of school administrators and the Glen Cove Police Department, students participate in a 10 week training course that promotes student awareness of the negative affective of substance abuse and empowers them with the tools that will enable them to avoid and resist peer pressure situations that are common among today’s young adults. Congratulations to the students and a special thanks to Sergeant Jack McDougal and his fellow officers for helping to teach our children about making good choices.