Special Hallowe’en Pirate Sail on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

Join us for our last sail of the season on Friday, October 31 from 4-6 pm on the sloop Clearwater as she is transformed into a haunted pirate ship. Rumor has it that the ghost of Captain Kidd will appear to tell his true tale of treachery and woe. Come in costume! Cider and snacks provided. All proceeds go to support Clearwater’s education programs for NYC kids. Rated PG-13 for scary stories and images. We will be sailing from, and returning to, the 79th Street Boat Basin in New York City.

To make reservations, please contact Catherine Stankowski at 845-454-7673, ext 107, or by e-mail to catherine@clearwater.org .

Adults $50
Children 12 and under $20

Regional transportation officials will present details about building a new Tappan Zee Bridge and accompanying commuter rail and bus rapid transit services at Rockland Community College at 4p and 7p on Wednesday, October 29.

The $16B plan replaces the existing 52 year old bridge adding a bus rapid transit (BRT) system along the 30-mile highway corridor across Rockland and Westchester counties. A commuter rail transit system will cross the new Tappan Zee Bridge creating a one-seat ride from Rockland to Grand Central Terminal.

Additional meetings will also be held on

• Tuesday, October 28 at White Plains Senior High School
  550 North Street, White Plains, NY 10605
• Thursday, October 30 at Central Valley Elementary School
  45 Route 32, Central Valley, NY 10917

Meetings in all three locations are at 4p and 7p.

See also: Times Hearld-Record, TZB Site, NyackNewsAndViews

Nyack’s Chamber of Commerce is exercising its raindate early and moving the annual Halloween Parade to Sunday, October 26 at 4:45p. Website WeatherUnderground reports a 90% chance of rain on Saturday afternoon at 5pm, the orignially scheduled kickoff time.

Participating bands, floats and marchers should meet on Sunday at 3:15p at the upper level of Memorial Park, at the corner of DePew and Piermont Avenues.

Source: Friends of The Nyacks, Inside Rockland

Nyack area resident Cliff Weathers says one local candidate is using the schools to advance their personal agenda of “no politician left behind.” Weathers writes in The Albany Project about a flyer his daughter brought home from State Senator Thomas P. Morahan.

It was a Halloween safety flyer that had Senator Morahan’s name in HUGE type and some common-sense Halloween safety tips in very small, almost agate-sized type. I found it more than curious, in fact, cynical, to get a useless flyer from Senator Morahan in my child’s pack just a few days he was to defend his seat. In fact, several parents that I know from Upper Nyack and Liberty Elementary schools were upset by this flyer, which was obviously campaign material paid for by Morahan’s “member items” slush fund. Continue reading →

Modular housing has come a long way, and Nyack has seen several go up in the last couple of years.  Today a house was put into place, as you might have noticed one of its five sections being trucked through our streets (hard to miss).

Next week’s new TZB meeting at RCC will surely cover the $16B question: how to pay for it all. There’s one plan making the rounds which attempts to make it someone else’s problem.

The New York Post advocates leasing the building and maintenance to a private firm. Chicago’s Richard Daley followed this route for several major infrastructure projects, reducing the city’s debt and raising its credit rating.

Take the Tappan Zee Bridge. Substandard and falling apart, it’s a poster child for our crumbling infrastructure. There’s a $6.4 billion plan to replace the bridge, but the state doesn’t have the money.

The private sector could finance some (perhaps all) of the new bridge as part of a 50-to-99-year lease deal. The state would own the bridge, but a company would pay to build, operate and maintain it – making its money back by charging tolls over the life of the lease.

There’s alot more to learn and more than a few skeptics to convince. “I think what you have to do is avoid a fire sale of state assets, whether you call it a sale or a 99-year lease,” Democratic Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester told salon.com. NY Governor Paterson has asked for a report on the possibilities due on his desk by the start of the 2009 budget process.

Sources: New York Post, salon.com, reason.org

Your can see some some of the Hudson’s Finest Homes without leaving town on Wednesday at 7:30p in The Nyack Center.

Historic Homes of The Hudson explores Dutch Colonial, Federal and Georgian style homes as part of the The Friends of The Nyacks’ Armchair Tours series. The slide show will be presented by Leontine Temsky, a  retired Professor of Art History at SUNY Empire State College.

A repeat performance is scheduled for 2p in the Valley Cottage Library.

Source: Friends of The Nyacks

In Minneapolis, locals say there are only two seasons: Winter and Road Repair. TZB commuters are in for another week of the latter as deck panel replacement construction continues this week on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Here’s a day by day summary of what to expect: Continue reading →

The Rockland County Department of Health comes to Nyack’s Senior Center on Wednesday, October 22 offering flu vaccinations to seniors and other people susceptible to catching influenza.

Wednesday, 10/22 9:30a-11:30a Nyack Senior Center (90 Depew Avenue, Nyack) Continue reading →