TIMES, THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2014 • 28 Needles Found Inside Forest Pk. Pat Buchanan News & Opinion -CONTINUED FROM PG. 4- the burden of rebuilding Europe and Japan, the defense of the West, and the hot wars in Korea and Vietnam to halt the advance of communism. As U.S. dollars poured out, allies began to cash them in for Fort Knox gold. Nixon ended Bretton Woods, shut the gold window, let the dollar float and imposed wage and price controls. For better or worse, Richard Nixon was the father of the modern economic era. No future president has undone what he did. As coalition builder, Nixon is rivaled in the 20th century only by FDR. As this writer relates in “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority," Nixon rebuilt his ruined career and reunited his shattered party after the LBJ landslide of 1964, and he led it to victory in a cliffhanger three-way race in 1968, the most violent year since the Civil War. By 1972, that united Republican Party had rallied to its banners a coalition of more than 60 percent of the nation, giving Richard Nixon an unprecedented 49-state landslide and enabling Republicans to maintain control of the White House in 20 of the 24 years after 1968. 1968 had been the year of the Tet Offensive, the breaking of the Johnson presidency, the murder of Dr. King, race riots in 100 cities, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and the shattering of the Democratic Party in the convention hall and the streets of Chicago. By 1972, Hugh Sidey of Time was hailing the “cooling of America” in the Nixon presidency. Then came Watergate. Remember his other accomplishments, when hearing this week again of the horrors on the tape of June 23. * * * Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." Letters To The Editor them. I have complained to the community board and they have tried to get Parks or Sanitation interested, to no avail. So another waste of money—healthy trees dying of neglect. Why aren’t the property owners/tenants being ticketed for failing to clean up this mess? A private homeowner would certainly get a summons if his property was littered with junk and overgrown weeds. Maybe if you print this letter, the city and the property owners/tenants will be shamed into cleaning up this yearly, but totally avoidable, mess. Peggy O’Kane Ridgewood No Transparency Equals No Integrity Dear Editor: The New York Post recently followed up with the 15 current and former members of our New York City Council on their pledge to donate their taxpayer funded bonuses to charity by asking for proof. Out of the 15, only three gladly offered up their receipts and documents showing who they contributed to. The other 12 simply stated that they gave, but failed to show proof that such gifts were, in fact, given. The article states that my own councilman—Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer—who has received over $60,000 in taxpayer member items has been unable or unwilling to provide proof of his alleged donations since 2010. This is so wrong on many levels. While the lack of transparency should not sit well with the voters, the biggest problem I have is that we pay city taxes so our elected officials decide who should get our charity. Without knowing exactly where this money is going, your money could have been donated to a non-profit organization that you might not agree with. I have personally requested grants for veterans' service organizations from the councilman, only to be ignored or given cumbersome applications by a staffer. My borough's only elected Republican, Eric Ulrich, appears to be the only Council Member with integrity enough to entrust with our tax dollars. It's time for our elected officials to be transparent and honest with us. How about letting us decide what we do with our money and who we give to charity? Start by lowering our taxes and the cost of living in this city so we have more money to give. I try to give to charities every year and would gladly give more if I had more. It’s time our City Council lower our taxes so we can save more money and make decisions on which organization we choose to support. Marvin Jeffcoat President Grand Old Party Republican Club Sunnyside * * * Letters from readers are invited and should be sent by regular mail to Times Newsweekly, P.O. Box 860299, Ridgewood, N.Y. 11386- 0299 or by e-mail to info@times newsweekly.com. All letters must be accompanied by the writer’s full name and address, which will be withheld upon request. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters are subject to editing. The opinions expressed in each letter are not necessarily those of the Times Newsweekly or its staff. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 4- Say He Stole Mom’s Holocaust Survivor Benefits Ousted Qns. Library Trustees Sue Borough President formally appealed to the borough president for reconsideration, and Katz dismissed their appeals. The trustees are seeking a temporary restraining order blocking their immediate removal; a hearing on the application is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 11, at the federal court in Brooklyn. Just before the Times Newsweekly went to press late Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 6, Katz issued a statement charging that “the former trustees are making a federal case out of something that is very simple.” “Their removals were clearly authorized by the state law that was enacted in June with nearly unanimous support in the legislature,” Katz stated. “They are therefore forced to rely on the extraordinarily weak argument that their removal was somehow unconstitutional. You can’t make a federal case out of disappointment.” Katz claimed the removal was her “last resort” after the six members balked at efforts to reform the library, including supporting its embattled president and CEO and refusing to offer full financial disclosure to one of several investigating entities looking into the system’s finances. ‘A brazen power grab’ The lawsuit, however, charged the six removals Katz made amounted to “a brazen and unconstitutional power grab ... to transform the Queens Borough Public Library from an independent, private, nonprofit corporation into an organ of city government controlled by the Queens borough president and mayor.” “The trustees remain on the board and they can be removed only according to the library’s by-laws, not by an unconstitutional statute or the whims of local politicians,” said Douglas E. Grover, attorney for the firm Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP, who is representing the ousted trustees. “After dismissing the trustees, it’s hardly surprising that the borough president rejected their appeal,” Grover added in a statement to this paper Wednesday morning, Aug. 6. “It’s one more reason the court must step in and halt the damage Ms. Katz has already done to the library and the further damage that would surely follow.” As noted in the 96-page lawsuit, the state established Queens Library “as an independent, self-governing private corporation” through legislation passed in 1907. Queens Library was developed largely through philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who built the first public libraries in the borough. In an deal with Carnegie, the city agreed to fund the library’s operations thereafter. A system under fire Earlier this year, Queens Library came under fire after reports surfaced that its president and CEO, Thomas W. Galante, earned a nearly $400,000 annual salary and authorized a sixfigure renovation of his Jamaica office. The library defended his pay as comparable to salaries earned by other nonprofit leaders. The report angered many since Queens Library cut services and staff in recent years as a result of reduced government funding. Questions also surfaced regarding Queens Library’s selection of private contractors to perform certain services such as maintenance. The FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and the city Department of Investigation each launched inquiries into Queens Library’s finances; the investigations remain ongoing. Bristled with pols In the wake of the turmoil, the lawsuit charged, Katz “set her sights on taking control” of Queens Library and dictated to trustees “how she ‘expected’ them to vote on matters of management and administration.” After voting contrary to Katz’s wishes, it is alleged, the borough president “accused them—in a highly public smear campaign—of violating their duties and misusing taxpayer funds.” In June, the state legislature passed—and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed—legislation amending the Library’s 1907 Act of Incorporation giving the borough president and mayor the authority to remove trustees. As previously reported, State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry—with Katz’s assistance—drafted and sponsored the bill. The lawsuit charges that the new rule “converts a private corporation of charitable origin into an organ of city government subject to the will of whichever politicians may be in office.” The six trustees Katz removed received their notice on July 23. The borough president purportedly claimed they were being cut since they did not vote in accordance with her wishes at board votes in April regarding Galante’s future at Queens Library and in May over financial disclosure obligations. Prior to the April vote, Katz wrote to Board of Trustees Chair Gabriel Taussig indicating Galante’s continued service puts the library’s financial future in jeopardy, noting that “as an elected official charged with allocating taxpayer dollars, I must ensure they are appropriated wisely—and I cannot do that while the library’s sitting president faces a federal investigation.” As reported, the Queens Library trustees deadlocked 9-9 in May on a resolution forcing Galante into a leave of absence. Five of the six members Katz ousted voted against the resolution; Arrington was out of the room during the vote and, thus, did not cast a ballot. All six members then voted ‘yes’ on a resolution at the May board meeting agreeing to provide Stringer with financial information in accordance with Queens Library’s 1997 compact with then-City Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Stringer is seeking a court injunction invalidating the agreement and compelling Queens Library to fully disclose its finances. The lawsuit alleges Katz removal of the six trustees constitutes an “unconstitutional retaliation under the First Amendment.” They are seeking federal judgment declaring the new law unconstitutional, reinstating the trustees to their positions and providing them with monetary damages. Looking out for the library In her statement last Wednesday, Katz charged she was, in dismissing the six trustees, acting in the best interests of the borough and the millions of Queens Library’s customers. “My only goals are to make sure the management of the Queens Library, one of our borough’s most treasured institutions, is placed back on a proper path of transparency and good governance,” she said, “and that the library fully cooperates with all relevant investigations.” Katz believes the court “will agree that there has been no harm done to these six individuals and that their potential return to the board would be completely disruptive, because they would continue to block attempts by city agencies, investigative entities and their fellow trustees to get full access to important information about how public tax dollars are being spent by the library, which gets 85 percent of its funding from the City of New York.” -CONTINUED FROM PG. 6- “judging by the amount,” he said. “I’ve certainly never heard of that amount needles being found.” Used needles pose serious health risks, and by law must be disposed of properly as medical waste. “The theory is that people were avoiding paying to dispose of the needles,” Croft said. “Of course I am extremely grateful they were found before something serious happened.” -CONTINUED FROM PG. 6- claim Gary Jacoby allegedly used forged, notarized forms to collect further pension payments four years after his mother’s passing. Reportedly, Gary Jacoby submitted to the German Pension Insurance Company notarized life certificates featuring his mother’s forged signature which purportedly claimed that Laura Jacoby was still alive. Prosecutors said a notary public known to the Jacoby family—who also knew of Laura Jacoby’s death— participated in the alleged scheme. According to law enforcement sources, an investigation into that individual is ongoing. During a related visit to the German embassy in March 2012, authorities stated, Gary Jacoby claimed his mother was alive. Reportedly, Gary Jacoby received approximately $56,932 in payments the German Pension Insurance Company made to Laura Jacoby between Feb. 26, 2008 and Feb. 29, 2012. The company eventually caught wind of the scam and alerted authorities in Queens. Brown thanked the German Pension Insurance Company for its cooperation during the inquiry. Det. Ferdinand Caravousanos of the NYPD Queens District Attorney’s Squad conducted the investigation under the supervision of Capt. John M. Zanfardino. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rosemary Buccheri of the DA’s Economic Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gregory C. Pavlides, bureau chief, and Christina Hanophy, deputy bureau chief. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 8- SELLING A CAR OR A HOME? ADVERTISE IN THE Times Newsweekly’s CLASSIFIED SECTION! CALL 1-718-821-7500 TODAY!
RT08072014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above