FINALE SCORE: TWO NIL by Martin McGloin
On Monday morning feb 4th I was given a second bout of good news. With the New
York Giants scraping by to what was an unexpected defeat of the undefeatable
Patriots, I could hardly believe the news. Delivered in electronic form by Jeff
Buss an Attorney with Smith, Buss Jacob in Yonkers, at 8:16 am he informed the community of Yonkers plaintiffs that they also won what often seems a victory that is unattainable. We beat City Hall. We didn’t hit the crossbar we tore a hole in the onion bag, with a penalty Kick. The Cities Goalie Kevin Plunkett did not have a chance.
As extra time played it was hard to know if we would end up with penalty kicks
deciding our legal fate and future. That was not to be. The referee blew the
final whistle. The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division:
Second Department ruled in favor of those brave community members and some of
our local politicians who dared stand up to Yonkers own Tammany Hall. The
cheers of the crowd could be felt and heard all around Yonkers as the good news spread like wildfire, by phone, computer and voice. You can beat City Hall, You can beat City Hall was the heartfelt message. A Hallmark love story for valentines day came early.
The 3 to 1 decision, decided on January 29th 2008 by the Judges brought me back
to a place in the memory banks of my mind of my visit to the court back in September of 07. Justice Crane, Florio and Carni ruled in our favor. Judge Lifson ruled with the City. Reading the Decision and Order made me feel like I was on American Idol
and all but Simon wanted me to go to Hollywood. Judge Lifson played Simon on
this show. Lifson dissented and gave a long winded and 5 page explanation of what
transpired. He was the videotape judge and I guess our last piece de
resistance.
It was a long and tiring game. We had no substitutes but we lost two players in
the second half. Council President Lesnick and Councilwoman Annabi left the
field with injuries.
These injuries were self inflicted, as Lesnick once elected did everything to
play a mediator role and worked hard to promote solutions to the community
which to this day are still not palatable He called it a charette we all called it
a charade To this day I hear he is calling for a regatta on Sprain Lake, but nobody wants it, especially all those adjacent to the lake.
Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge, No thanks!
Sandi Annabi was the last off the field and she played gallantly
until the week before the council voted and she just didn’t have the stamina
for this game.On July 11th 2006 the council voted for a second time
to approve the Ridge Hill project by supermajority vote.Not only did she leave the field she changed jerseys and came back on the field playing for the other side.
Interesting enough the cities tape of this meeting required by the FBI, has never surfaced. My version will remain on YonkersTV forever.
One has to ask how much this has cost the taxpayer of Yonkers. Is this
arrogance Supreme? or is the Amicone administration protecting all of us?
Who makes these decisions? Is it by committee or by the Emperor?
The most important aspect of this decision was that we took on City Hall and
won. Ordinary residents of Yonkers New York's 4th largest City, said enough was enough when a Majority of the Council, 2 Councils ago under then Council President
Richard Martinelli changed the rules, kicked the referee off the field and
played ball according to their own rules. The community who had watched and
respected and followed the process would not be fouled. A brave group of
community members and local politicians stood up for the rights of all of the
residents of Yonkers and headed straight to court.
So the final score is Community 2, City of Yonkers 0. Now the City could appeal
the decision but they would be foolish, wouldn't they ?
To Read the Westchester Times Tribune go to:
http://westchestertimestribune.typepad.com/my_weblog/files/WTT-3-74-Web.pdf
