By John Shields, Mayor of the Village of Nyack

There are, as of this writing, four candidates for Mayor of the Village of Nyack, all Democrats: Denise Hogan, Marie Lorenzini and Richard Kavesh, all currently trustees on the Village Board, and Marianne Olive, a newcomer and a local business owner. Also, as of this writing, three candidates: Jen Laird White, Doug Foster, Democrats and Richard Quinn, an independent are running for Trustee. Since two trustee positions are up for election this year, the two Democrats need no primary. An interesting note: If Richard Kavesh is elected Mayor he may appoint a trustee for his unexpired term as Trustee.

The primary election is on September 15. The winner will be on the ballot in September. The independent candidate name will be on the ballot in November if he collects enough signatures on his petition. In the meantime, the candidates have some work to do:

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With Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern planning to shutter it’s in-patient psych program by September, Rockland County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell is concerned about the resources available for local inpatient psychiatric treatment for acute care needs. She’s called for talks at upcoming meetings of the legislature’s Multi Services and Budget & Finance committees.

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Nyack will have it’s July 4 fireworks after all!  Provident Bank, which is currently building a new branch on 9W, wants to prove itself as a good new resident by donating $10,000 to the Village to pay for the fireworks.

Although fireworks on The Fourth are a Nyack tradition, the Village Board cut the Independence Day display from the 2009-2010 budget to help close a $500,000 budget deficit.

Fireworks will kick off on Saturday July 4th at 9pm at Memorial Park in Nyack.

What’s 101 years old, doesn’t go much of anywhere anymore and spends most of the time going around in circles at the mall? Continue reading →

The Nyack Democratic Committee met tonight to endorse candidates for Mayor and two Village Trustee seats.  It was a sad turnout for such an important meeting, where only 15 of the 25 members attended, and 5 of them were candidates.  But Richard Kavesh made a strong showing,  winning the endorsement with 9 votes.  There were 2 votes for Marie Lorenzini, and 1 for Denise Hogan.  Five people abstained.  Marianne Olive, owner of Olive’s restaurant, also attended (she is not a Committee member) to ask for the Committee’s endorsement.

The Committee also unanimously endorsed unopposed candidates Jen White and Doug Foster (which is me, in the interest of full disclosure) for Village Trustee.

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Rockland County will soon get it’s own electronic air monitoring station. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has reversed a 37-year-old position that Rockland didn’t need its own station because regional data was sufficient. Rockland is the only county in the region without a dedicated air monitoring unit. Continue reading →

Hopping on the bus, Gus? Check the revised Friday and Monday schedules before you go during the 2009 Memorial Day Holiday weekend for the TZx, Rockland Coach, TOR and other bus and train services.

TZx travelers:

On Friday 5/22 additional TAPPAN ZEExpress buses will be standing by at Tarrytown station in case a TZx bus is full due to early rush hour commuters from Metro-North trains. The TZx bus that normally departs from Tarrytown Station at 7p will depart 10 minutes later due to an adjusted train schedule. On Memorial Day 5/25 the TZx will operate a Saturday schedule to coordinate with Metro-North trains at Tarrytown. Continue reading →

Yesterday voters approved Nyack Schools’ 2009-10 budget ($69.2 million) on Tuesday, 761 to 339. A second proposition authorizing Excel aid for new roofs at $1.47 million was also approved,  758 to 324.  Voter turnout decreased 48 percent from last year with only 1100 votes cast in a contest where two incumbent board members ran unopposed. Turnout was approximately eight percent of elected voters.

Sources: Journal News, Nyack Schools

Editor’s note: Turnout percentage is approximate; the 2008 count for registered voters was used for this calculation. As of 5/21, Nyack schools hasn’t posted voting results by district nor have they responded to an email request for turnout information.

The shocking revelation about the challengers in today’s school board election is that there aren’t any. Last year there were eight candidates for three positions — this year two incumbents are running unopposed. Does this show a lack of interest in school politics, or satisfaction in how things are being done?

Yet, there is still an vote today to approve the 2009-10 budget ($69.2 million) and a second proposition about new roofs for the schools ($1.47 million). Without lawn signs, mailers and a candidates’ forum, it’s a good bet that turnout will be considerably less than the 16 percent that voted in 2008. Continue reading →

A new episode of DIY Network’s Project Xtreme focuses on the new Walkway Over The Hudson pedestrian bridge under construction in Poughkeepsie, NY. Lauded as the “world’s tallest pedestrian walkway,” it refurbishes the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge first opened in 1889. The Walkway Over The Hudson will be officially opened and dedicated this Fall. Continue reading →