Editor in Chief:
Unfortunately, but I believe it’s apparent that southwest Yonkers residents who reside in the working class areas near the waterfront are being priced out. Development in this vicinity is apparent and the Developer’s with the monetary capital are making their mark.
Not too long ago (just a few years) we saw this play out in Washington Heights, Upper Manhattan. In my opinion, NYC Council Members elected by their constituents in these impoverished districts, catered to the developers and the working class residents lost out by steep rent increases which were out of reach for them financially.
I hope the Yonkers Council President and the council members who represent these areas are making sure a percentage of affordable units in these luxury residential buildings are available for city residents who reside in these districts. In NYC that’s the process with Condominiums and I believe its a requirement which has been upheld.
From,
Al Higgins
North Yonkers
January 6, 2025
Letter to the Editor:
Happy New Year! I read with great interest Dan Murphy’s column appearing in the January 3, 2025 edition of Westchester Rising about the absence of third party candidates in last fall’s New York State general elections.
Mr. Murphy’s column hits a lot of nails on the head. Readers may be dismayed to learn that the last time New York had only two Presidential candidates on the ballot was in 1872 when incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant was challenged by former New York Representative and newspaper editor Horace Greeley. From 1876 through the 2020 Presidential elections, New Yorkers had several choices on the ballot for President.
We have already begun to see the negative effects of the 2020 Cuomo legislation which greatly restricted independent party access to the ballot:
• Currently, some 3.7 million New Yorkers are not registered in a political party, which accounts for 27% of all registered voters;
• In the 2020 Presidential election, more than 500,000 New Yorkers were enrolled in a third party, in addition to 3 million voters recorded as “blank,” and not enrolled in a major political party. In effect, the Cuomo legislation
disenfranchised New Yorkers who wanted to enroll in a party different from the Democratic, Republican, Conservative, or Working Family Parties;
• Last fall, approximately 8.4 million New Yorkers voted in the Presidential election with only 4 parties listed on the ballot. By contrast, just over 8.6 million New Yorkers voted in 2020 with multiple candidates on the ballot.
Third parties in New York State have actually strengthened the two major parties by making them more responsive to voters’ concerns and issues. Third parties in the
United States have championed Social Security, women’s suffrage, a progressive income tax system, direct election of U.S. Senators, etc., which the two major parties subsequently embraced.
Here in New York, the Liberal Party, founded in the 1940s, sought to make the Democrats more “honest” and supportive of the New Deal, and the GOP more moderate and “humane.” The New York Conservative Party, founded in the 1960s, sought to align the state’s GOP more closely with conservative principles championed by Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. In New York City, “Fusion” type parties have sought to reform New York City government.
We now have what I like to describe American politics as a 1 ½ party system, with the GOP resembling more of a populist movement, and the Democrats with two conflicting wings. Voters in the middle currently have no political home.
The noted historian and political scientist Clinton Rossiter once described the GOP as a conservative party with a liberal wing, and the Democratic Party as a liberal party with a conservative wing. This made for public policy formulated in the mainstream center, and American democracy was better off for it.
What’s the solution for New York? I suggest that the Forward Party, No Labels, Unite-NY, and others join forces as a “coalition of the willing” and form a dynamic center party which would make our politics, government and elections more democratic.
I remain hopeful. Time will tell. Stay tuned.
STEPHEN R. ROLANDI
Larchmont, New York
(The writer is an adjunct professor of public administration and formerly served in the administrations of New York City Mayors Edward I. Koch, Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson. A life-long Republican, he has served in leadership positions with the Ripon Society and Principles First).
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Letter to the Editor:
In regard to the recent article about fly fishing, I continue to be saddened by the human perspective that nature and wildlife exists for human entertainment and exploitation. There is no hidden beauty in catching fish or treating any animal as a plaything to be captured and tossed around like an inanimate object. I’m sure its terrifying to any sentient being, including fish, to be in life-threatening scenarios with no clue what is happening or why. While I am relieved when an animals’ life is spared, torturing a fish by impaling does not sound beautiful in the least.
Christina DeRespiris
New Rochelle
Letter to the Editor:
“SNAKE IN THE GRASS”-MARIJUANA
A long experienced investigative reporter discussed the hidden dangers of “The Weed” at a gathering of students from a Midwestern college, part of what he said follows-
“Far less work has been done on marijuana than on alcohol partly because advocates have stigmatized anyone who raises the issue. But studies showing that marijuana use is a significant risk factor for violence have quietly piled up.”
“After an exhaustive review, the National Academy of Medicine found, in 2017 that cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use,the greater the risk.” (1)
“When money becomes a person’s God, greed becomes the chief motivator of what people do, permit, or support. In the end, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another, and, as one can clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home.”
(Pope St. Francis)
Joe Pettit-Yorktown Hts. NY
Source: (1) Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence. (January 18th 2019)
By Alex Berenson–Imprimis –a publication of Hillsdale College
Dear Editor,
With just one month left before Donald Trump returns to the White House, we are running out of time to lock in protections for our climate and communities. One critical action President Biden can take right now is to permanently shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The pipeline is currently operating illegally, even as the ongoing legal battles surrounding it are reaching a critical point. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe continues to fight against corporate and state interference to protect their sacred land and the safety of surrounding communities.
In 2020, concerned citizens urged President Biden to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, and he listened. Now, we must continue to press him to take immediate action on DAPL before Trump takes office. The risk of further environmental harm and disruption to Indigenous land is too great to ignore.
President Biden must prioritize the permanent shutdown of DAPL in his final days in office. The fight for a cleaner, safer future is in our hands, and we cannot afford to miss this opportunity.
Sincerely,
Banjo, Yonkers NY
