The turf battle between Cablevision and Verizon has opened another front. Specifically, in my front yard. Digging up my turf.

I noticed someone digging a hole by my front porch last week. And the Verizon truck parked across the street (incidentally, there’s no parking on that side of the street. These monopolies know no bounds!). Wanting to do my part for homeland security, I decided to question the infiltrator. Continue reading →

Looking for the perfect holiday gift for a biker friend who has everything? This item gives a new meaning to “power ride.”

Sanyo is introducing a two wheeler to make the Prius crowd green with envy. You pedal the back wheel like a conventional bike but a small electric motor powered by regenerative braking runs the front wheel. Sanyo says riders will only need to supply 30 percent of the power with the rest coming from the front motor. It also plugs in for a charge between rides taking a little less than four hours to get topped off.

The eneloop bike includes a 250-watt motor powered by a 29.5-volt lithium-ion battery with a Sanyo-claimed riding range of 35-60 miles. Your mileage may vary.

The bike will be available for sale in Japan beginning in February for about $1500.

Sources: BikeDesign, Wired, JapanToday, Akihabaranews

If you think this snow is going to last forever, think again. Nyack has some legal limits on how much of the white stuff can accumulate on sidewalks. Or more specifically, how long it can stay there.

Here’s an excerpt from the section 48-10 of the Village Code at nyack.org Continue reading →

A lot of people are buying Christmas trees, which they will have for a few weeks in the house, and then they’ll put them on the curb and they will disappear.  Most people don’t think about what happens to the tree in the “after life”.  In fact, few think about all the other items that constitute the waste stream.

Where will that tree go?  Victor Overton, the Village’s Superintendent of Maintenance, says they go to the composting facility near the mall.  You may have smelled the sweet odors from that facility while parking at the mall or driving by the Rte. 59/303 intersection (see Journal News article on odor issues).

Continue reading →

Are Nyack’s bars and patrons too loud for too long into the early morning hours? Or are there a handful of residents who are using the police to stick it too the late night crowd and their favorite Nyack haunts? The Chamber of Commerce of Nyack brought business owners and village officials together to discuss the issue.

Police enforcement of the current noise ordinance relies on the officer’s judgement to determine if the noise is excessive at a distance of 50 feet away from the venue. If it is, a citation will be issued.

Merchants say that in the past, the police wouldn’t respond until similar complaints were heard from five or more residents about the same noise source. But now it seems like five calls from the same angry person are enough to get Orangeburg’s police involved. Continue reading →

“We cannot wait for the public to survey the spectacular views from the two upper levels looking over the majestic Hudson River, the eastern shoreline in the distance, and the Tappan Zee Bridge,” writes Stephen Hoefer, Manager of Operations & Finance for Nyack’s Library addition project in his NyackNewChapter blog.

The project features environmentally friendly geothermal wells which are now ready to be tied into the mechanical equipment. Recent work includes installing the exterior stone veneer and hanging gutters.

You can view the plans for the lower level,  main floor and upper floor on Hoefer’s blog.

See also: Library Digs Deep To Save Energy

Transport of Rockland (TOR) buses have a new Nyack location on Artopee Way, in the parking lot behind the M & T Bank on Main Street.  The Village of Nyack constructed the new bus area. Buses switched to the new stop on Monday, December 15th

TOR bus routes #59, #91 and #92 leave Artopee Way according to their current scheduled departure times.
The County’s TAPPAN ZEExpress bus service will be not affected by this change and will continue to pick up and drop off on South Franklin Street, near Depew Avenue.

For more information, visit the Rockland County Department of Transportation Web site or call the Rockland Transit Information Center at (845) 364-3333.

Nyack’s Village Board threw their support behind the Riverspace Downtown project at last night’s meeting. Discussions also included appointing a task force for the project, as well as conversations about Main Street improvements, a new community center and noise ordinance issues.

Riverspace Task Force — The Mayor announced that he appointed a new task force to work with Riverspace on its proposal for a major redevelopment of the Main Street “superblock”.  On the task force will be Jennifer Laird White, Steve Knowlton, Doug Foster, and one person yet to be named.

Riverspace Resolution — The Board unanimously passed a two paragraph resolution supporting the concept of the Riverspace development.  Trustee Richard Kavesh stated that he had a conversation with co-artistic director Elliott Forrest concerning the development plans. Kavesh said that he stated he felt the project was way out of scale and was too big for the Village.  He envisioned something more like Pleasantville’s Jacob Burn’s Film Center “West”.  He said Pearl River would be a better location for a large development like those in the plan.

Continue reading →

by Connie Coker, Rockland County Legislator

The Environmental Committee of the Rockland County Legislature is to be held Wednesday evening Dec. 10th at 7:30 in the Legislature on New Hempsted Rd – near corner of Main in New City – County Office Building (View Flyer).

I am the Chairwoman of the Environmental Committee and I am sponsoring a public discussion to review ways to promote the use of reusable shopping bags and decrease free plastic/paper bags.  I encourage people to attend and express their views on how to decrease the problems associated with the manufacture and disposal of plastic/paper bags.

Continue reading →