In Our Opinion...
Retaliation From The 9th Floor?
We cannot help but wonder if Andy Spano who, for so many years, made us all understand each New Year’s Eve how thoughtful his Office was by providing an inexpensive alcohol-free party at the County Center, would have cancelled this year’s celebration, if all of his cronies and his rubber-stamp County Legislature had gotten those ill-timed, selfish pay-raises he was pushing for.
We are being told that the number of attendees had declined over the years, and that the event, which once drew 2500, mostly single adults, had been attended by only 800 celebrants last year. We are being told that the event would cost the County $60,000. We say the attendance figures are what they are, but the cost estimate seems a bit dubious, all things considered.
No, it’s very hard to imagine a cancellation if those $5,000-a-head pay-raises had coasted on through and not been met with strong public resistance. King Andy would have felt compelled to throw the Serfs a bone.
Of course, it’s probably somewhat unfair to lay all of the blame at Andy’s throne, given the fact that, as King, he is merely the pretty face,
the figurehead, fronting for a diabolical Svengali, Larry Schwartz, the brains and the power of the Kingdom. Still, King Andy, if he had chosen to, could have overruled Larry’s retaliatory calculations. He simply chose not to.
The cancellation, announced as it was one day before New Year’s Eve, was surely no last-minute decision. Where were all of the usual cablevision
and newspaper promotions for several days in advance, as in years past, if, in fact, there was a genuine desire to maintain the tradition? We are talking about the County Center, after all.
It is not likely that we will see a revival of the event should voters be foolish enough to hand King Andy a fourth reign. We are simply expected to accept the idea that all of the good reasons for running the event, particularly for seniors and singles, not to mention County residents who were not particularly interested in alcohol but wished to welcome in the New Year with music and dancing at a reasonable cost, no longer matter; not on the 9th Floor of the County Office Building, anyway.
Simply think of the cancellation as the County Executive’s Office saying to us, “You may have denied us the icing on our cake, but we denied you the party.”
Our Readers Respond...
Reader Finds Roundabout Way Of Speaking Out On A Subject He Could Have Approached Directly; Even Feigning Response To A Letter To Another Newspaper
Dear Editor:
In reference to a letter in the Journal News, 12/22/08, entitled, “Bush Supporters Have Blood on Their Hands,” the writer is critical of George Bush
for his action in Iraq. He further states that over 4,000 brave American soldiers lost their lives for nothing in Iraq and that their blood is on his hands and those of his loyal supporters.
While I was opposed to the war in Iraq, I am also opposed to another war taking place here on our own soil, that is the war on the unborn which claims one million casualties annually. These casualties are the result of abortion. The writer can’t blame George Bush for that. George Bush is against abortion. So then on whose hands is their blood?
The writer is obviously one sided in his criticism and clearly wanted to take a swipe at the GOP. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have anything to write home to Mother about. It behooves him to tell it like it is if it is his desire to be fair in his criticism.
George Imburgia, New Rochelle
Reader Reaches Back Into 10-Year-Old Video Archive To Draw Interesting Conclusion
Dear Editor:
Andrew Cuomo ushered in the policy of sub-prime lending to people who don’t deserve loans. I’m not from New York, so the governor’s appointment is none of my business, but neither of these two people suggested would be a good idea.
Watch the CSPAN archived video from 1998 at a HUD press release. I think you would change your mind.
Alan Yedlin
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