I was very happy to attend in an effort to display the attitude of the mayor and the city council (Mr. Sack excluded).My “Emulator Award” of the evening is awarded to Mr. Shew (pic #626). Although The Mayor did run a close second. I may be a horse’s A__, but if you noticed I was very quiet and let the mayor and the council act on by behalf. My vote for best picture is #586.

Jack A

This is in response to the women from Greenhaven who complained that Mr. Schubert’s dried up wetlands garden will harvest mosquitoes and in return will increase the mosquito population in Greenhaven.
Although Mr. Schubert’s pond will harvest millions of mosquito’s they will most likely affect only Milton Point. (They do however have the capability of reaching Greenhaven) The vast majority of mosquito’s affecting Greenhaven is from Hen Island (A much closer source) and not Forest Ave. They breed from over 30,000 gallons of stagnant water stored in horse troughs used to supply domestic water in the cottages. This water is collected from the roof tops, is infected with bird feces and them used for showering, washing dishes and other domestic uses that one would normally use during the course of a day. This is another example of the City of Rye jeopardizing the health of its residents in Rye. After attending classes in Mosquito control in Hartford Ct. I have learned the following amazing mosquito facts that you may find interesting;

You’re more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas. Biting activity increase by 500 times when there is a full moon. A mosquito’s wings beat 500 times a second.
The insect responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is the mosquito.
Mosquitoes dislike citronella because it irritates their feet.
Mosquitoes prefer children to adults, and blondes to brunettes.
A mosquito can detect a moving target at 18 ft away
The average life span of a female mosquito is 3 to 100 days. The male lives 10 to 20 days.
Mosquitoes: lay up to 300 eggs at a time, fly across 150 miles in their lifetime, range from sea level to altitudes as high as 10,800 feet (3,600 meters), develop from egg to adulthood in 4 to 7 days
Q: How many species of mosquitoes are there?
A: About 2,700.
Q: What does a mosquito weigh?
A: About 2 to 2.5 milligrams (for an Aedes aegypti).
Q: How much blood does a female mosquito drink per, er, serving?
A: About 5-millionths of a liter (for an Aedes aegypti).
Q: How do mosquitoes find new hosts?
A: By sight (they observe movement); by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies; and by chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals).
Q: How fast can a mosquito fly?
A: An estimated 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.

Q: How far do certain mosquitoes fly
A: Salt marsh mosquitoes migrate 75 to 100 miles.

Q: How far away can a mosquito smell you, or a cow or another host?
A: 20 to 35 meters.
Q: Why does a film of oil on water kill mosquito larvae?
A: Because the oil clogs up the snorkel that the larvae use to breathe.
Mosquitoes don’t see very well, but they zoom in like a heat-seeking missile. In the spherical arrangement of their compound eyes, blind spots separate each eye from the next one. As a result, they can’t see you until they are 30 feet (10 meters) away. Even then, they have trouble distinguishing you from any object of similar size and shape: tree stump, 55-gallon drum, etc. When they are 10 feet (3 meters) away they use extremely sensitive thermal receptors on the tip of their antennae to locate blood near the surface of the skin. The range of these receptors increases threefold when the humidity is high.

all about Ray…latin name “interuptus magnus fetus”

Ray you’re a pain in the butt.

But we know you’re right. The pictures don’t lie. And everyone who has lived here a long time knows that someday Hen Island is going to deliver atrocious headlines and maybe some fatalities – unless we act.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

But Ray, you’re still a pain in the butt.

Keep going.

After last night’s Rye City Council meeting, I came away with an even deeper empathy for, and anger on behalf of, Mr. Robert Schubert; an admiration for both he and his wife, his friends, neighbors and other community members who stood up to speak on his behalf; the level headed suggestions of Mr. MacKenzie (go to the source of the problem of the disappearing water – i.e., the neighbor whose construction depleted Mr. Schubert’s pond’s water); frustration with the infighting among several of the council members and Mayor; feeling that Mr. Stack and Mr. Pratt appeared to have much more sensible and pragmatic views of the mishandled situation (including the real necessity of an independent “counsel” to review the historic evidence), that Mr. Ball does his best to be diplomatic; that Mayor Otis was patient but not as helpful as he might have been, and that a “one quote” hydrologist/engineering price seemed very odd. And, finally, that Mr. Shew appears to have absolutely no ability to look at what he did with regard to summoning that psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Schubert except from his own defensive point of view. I was appalled at his self justifying speech.

That’s my take. Granted, I don’t know all the details but that’s what I came away with.

I would like to know what the rules/laws are with regard to Mr. Shew’s request for a psychiatric “intervention” of Mr. Schubert and what the Mayor and each of the council members think of his actions. Mr. Pratt had the good graces to apologize to Mr. Schubert, though he had no involvement in this “intervention”. It’s a good thing that Mr. Schubert doesn’t appear to have a litigious bone in his body because he surely has suffered mightily over these almost 3 years.

I know we are all very much looking forward to the posted information – including Ms. Detlef’s statement – that has been promised and to seeing a fair and speedy resolution along with an apology to Mr. Schubert by Mr. Shew and any other members who may have had involvement in this debacle.

With regard to the photographs #554 is certainly the most poignant, though I believe that #563 does the most justice to Mr. Schubert. I only wish I had a tape recording of that particular part of the meeting. He was an inspiration!

TedC are you the real mr Floatie

Mr. Floatie, you’ve finally convinced me that the only answer to your problem is to publicly condemn all homes on Hen Island, instruct the buildings department to raze all structures, destroy the docks and close the island down to any trespassing. Violators should be subjected to hefty fines.
You are correct, it is an accident waiting to happen, the buildings are not adequately maintained and the whole place is unfit for human habitation. They probably don’t pay any taxes, so there’s no risk of hurting city income.
Let’s leave Hen Island to the birds, and flush away the problems of Mr. Floatie! Certainly everyone who lives in Greenhaven would be relieved to see this seaborne shantydown disappear!

Two Nit-wits heard from…..Two, who know nothing and are writing as though they’re experts…..The Hen Island summer residents pay taxes to the City of Rye..substantial taxes, I might add…Ask Ray how much. He knows. And, Ray…the Mosquito School you attended; is that where you learned mosquitos fly primarily from east to west?…That must have been SOME class !! What is it that will be attracting them to Greenhaven?…
Additionally, I kinda like bird feces..It’s like a hair conditioner…but, free. Don’t be so silly…People have been gathering rainwater for eons….We don’t drink it….
One more thing….as you’re so intent on attaching your links to this Blog, be forthcoming…attach the letter you received from the Health Dept…
Nevermind, I’ll save you the trouble…
“Hen Island” Mike

http://www.healtheharbor.com/documents/meyerson'%20response%209-26-07.pdf

As I have stated in the past I am not so proud & quick to reveal I am a Rye resident.Although it might appear progress has been made-that is yet to be seen. If it is Biz as usual @ City Hall I seriously doubt that this will be the 30 day solution the mayor spoke of. As for the councils behavior;Mr. Sack stood alone & obviously will continue to do so.I commend you JOE SACK for being a stand up guy & not a coward like your peers! Mr.Pratt shocked us all- for once he didn’t play that little violin he carries in his pocket. And how about our beloved Mayor- laughing @ times when Mr. Sack was speaking,leaning over to Mr.Pratt whispering things, and lets not forget how he was rolling his eyes w/utter disrespect to Mr.Sack. Who voted for this guy & why? THEN THERES MR.SHEW- A TOTAL JOKE-HE MADE A BIGGER ASS[if that is even possible] of himself.Shew gave himself the perfect opportunity to Apoligize to Mr.Schubert when he portrayed himself as our savior @ the podium. All he had to do is say; MR.SCHUBERT I APOLIGIZE FOR THE PAIN I HAVE CAUSED YOU & YOUR FAMILY! No instead he was up there tooting his own horn. FIRE THIS JERK ALREADY!!!!!! WE[RYE] HAVE BECOME THE EMBARASSMENT OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY!!
TO YOU MR.SCHUBERT: I WILL STAND IN YOUR CORNER ON ANY GIVEN MOMENT-I WILL CONTINUE MY FIGHT FOR STREET SAFETY AS WELL AS BEING THERE FOR YOU IN AS QUICK AS A PHONE CALL.I COMMEND YOU SIR!

OK, OK, so they pay taxes. But if we eliminate the homes on Hen Island, think of the benefits.

1. A truly carbon-neutral section of Rye we could use to offset carbon-burning vehicles, like idling police cars. I’m sure that by the time Obama’s carbon caps kick in circa 2012, it’ll more than offset the lost taxes on the current dumps there now.
2. A more beautiful sunset to enjoy from the public dock, without having to pretend the seaside shantytown isn’t there.
3. No nasty foul body odors floating over to Greenhaven or through Milton Point emanating from the unwashed summer residents on Hen Island.
4. No more Mr. Floatie making an ass out of himself and wasting valuable blog space on MyRye.

And think of what the city could do with the island –
1. A great site for a graveyard for all the roadkill in Rye. Maybe even a penal colony for deer – and Mr. Floatie.
2. Use it for the new police station. Greenhaven’s always been asking for a more visible police presence!
3. A dog friendly park, with no need for leashes. Call it the Steve Otis Memorial Dog Run.
4. Create an offshore tax haven for financial firms, and invite Madoff’s sons and the Noel clan to set up shop. Hell, a few more big-spending investment bankers might help Rye’s local economy.

Imagine the possibilities!

Bad and unethical behavior inevitable gets revealed in the light – although justice doesn’t necessarily follow. Let’s hope there is justice for Mr. Schubert and the quislings that allowed this – and probably other – thoughtless, short-sighted projects to go on.

At the heart of this though, is the marginalization in Rye of those who disagree with the “party line” or who cry out for transparency. Watch what happens to those who speak out at not only City Council meetings, but at the beserker that is the Rye City School District. Seniors and younger parents alike are marked as “too angry” or “crazy” if they dare to point out when the emperor has no clothes. Often it’s the same people speaking at both meetings – although the school board meetings tend to be more of a faux forum and the derision towards anything prophetic more up front. You don’t see many parents speak up because they will not only suffer humiliation like Mr. Schubert, or Mr. Gerson, or Mr. deFrondeville – there is a fear of retaliation on their children.

Over the years, Otis and the rest of the city council have turned a collective blind eye knowingly when the disconnect between how the school district functions (or sucks up residents’ money)and is actually part of the City of Rye. They won’t touch it.

So the marginalization and discrediting of truth tellers and those seeking justice continues. Rye continues its class and age apartheid, and without strong leadership, never understanding it is supposed to be one community.

Thank you Scooter for your most interesting take on the non-issue of “Hen Island”

Intruptus Magnus Fetus + Mr. Floatie equal= Raymond Tartaglione

Thank you, Linus. I was trying to bring my logic down to the level of Mr. Floatie.
In all modesty, I think I came close to his level – what do you think?

To get to the level of Mr. Floatie you have to be a chidish brat..hence the honorific of
“Interuptuptus magnus fetus” for our spoiled(soiled?) Mr. Floatie

Scooter,you have a good idea here. Let’s restore the natural greenspace to both Greenhaven and Milton Point as well.

Turn the american yacht club into a leper colony..Hen Island a penal colony for unrepentant public officials.
Gadsooks Scooter we can have it all

Shenorock for the infantile!
Coveleigh for the terminally ugly!
Wainright for the criminally insane!
My God, we can REMAKE THE WORLD – Let’s start by giving Mr. Floatie a whirling chocolate swirlie – A HA HA HA HA HA!

http://www.ryeny.gov/council/980%20Forest%20Avenue%20-%20City%20of%20Rye%20land%20use%20documents.pdf

I believe these documents posted today on the City of Rye website clearly show that there was a coverup committed by Shew and possibly others.

If Otis wasn’t involved in the coverup or had no knowledge of the coverup then why didn’t he respond to Congresswoman Lowey’s letters? Why no responses whatsoever to anyone from Shew?

Councilman Sack showed courage in asking for an investigation. Otis and the rest of the Rye City Trouncel are a disgrace and should resign their positions.

I observed two trouncel members with ashes on their foreheads the other night. I don’t know if this was related to the work I saw being done the next day at a Rye church.

It appeared to me that on Ash Wednesday Otis, Cunningham, Pratt, Ball, Parker and Gamacho sacrificed Mr. Schubert in order to convey repentance onto Otis and Shew when it should have been the other way around.

Keep up the good fight Councilman Sack. You and Mr. Schubert have a lot of people behind you.

TEST
Posted by: Ray Tartaglione | February 27, 2009 at 07:05 PM
Keep up the good fight Councilman Sack. You and Mr. Schubert have a lot of people behind you.

Posted by: Investigate Otis | February 27, 2009 at 07:33 PM
test

Posted by: Ray Tartaglione | February 27, 2009 at 07:46 PM

Ray, you can keep posting under as many names as you choose, but nobody cares or believes in your BS.

So I guess that means you think Investigate Otis is me. If you do, you couldn’t be more wrong. My computer has been down for two days. I am testing it with this post. If it works I will give you the post I have been trying to put up for two days. The same post I have put in the Journal News. Maybe you should respond to some of the posts there also. This way the people of Westchester can see the similarities in personalities between Jack A and yourselves. TIC,TIC,TIC…

QD, Scooter and Linus,
One last thought and another test for my computer. I my friend am one of the few that is man enough to put my name where my mouth is. I am sure should you and your friends do the same, the city council would be embarrassed once again.

It seem mr Floatie emerges from both ends of Ray’s alamentry canal.

Mr. Johnson,
Thank you for posting the letter from the Westchester County Deputy Health Commissioner Lenny Meyerson. We have listed that letter on our website for good reason. That letter is on the http://www.HEALtheHARBOR.com
website to exemplify the cover-up by the City of Rye and the Westchester County Health Department in regards to the Hen Island investigation of July 2007.

Commissioner Meyerson lied in his letter, and the City of Rye supported him, as they did in Rye with Mr. Schubert and Mr. Shew. Mike take notice, I repeat the word, “lied”. Here is the reason for the use of that word.
I would never slander the name of someone that I can be held personally liable for? I am fully prepared to prove anything I pen or say, in a court of law.

Meyerson was asked to submit the letter you display in a sworn affidavit for the court and he refused. The health codes and laws that Meyerson state are not applicable are listed on our website. I encourage you to read them and make your own decision. One doesn’t have to be a lawyer to interpret them.

The person who was going to tell the truth was Westchester County’s lead environmental inspector, Ron Gatto. Mr. Gatto is a “do the right thing guy” and was going to close the island until the issues were rectified. Two weeks later he was removed from the investigation and replaced by Meyerson who was willing to play the game. I find it interesting that Commissioner Lenny Meyerson (the third in command of the Westchester County Health Department) was put in charge of an investigation/inspection “where no problems existed”. That is like Commissioner Conners responding and investigating a vehicle accident, and then writing the report.

Below is a link to a picture from the http://www.HEALtheHARBOR.com website. This is a picture of one of the exposed sewage pits on Hen Island today. The alleged truthful and honest Commissioner Meyerson has stated that there are no problems with regard to sewage on Hen Island. If and when this house is in use, it’s sewage pit will be less than twenty feet from where children play on swing sets. Should they also play with the sewage water that is emitted from this pipe above ground?
http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/pages/sewage/sewage12.html

hyperbole in statements
allegations presented as facts
character assinations
Courts are wrong
Health Comissinor wrong
EPA wrong
Grand plan to foil mr. Floatie.

Ya yay ya

Poor honest Raymond

AS I said to the Garnet Graduate-only cowards open their mouths from behind walls & put their words in writing in toatl secretcy. So Ray – Do you usualy spend your life dedicated to taking pictures & photo shopp them to your liking? Pictures tell it all & you can not deny what Ray has showed the world. No one is asking for you cowards to agree with his methods-but to say his story is all non-sense & to rip him w/insults is pathetic. GROW UP! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD PEOPLE TAKE THE TIME TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH THAT YOU MAY NOT THINK EXISTS? I SECOND THE MOTION FOR STAMPING YOUR “TRUE IDENTITY”!!!

Just look at the pictures on HTH and the truth shall set you free.

Who Are They Protecting? Not the Environment …

When elected officials fail to implement environmental laws there must be a reason.

Occasionally the reason is that these officials will not (or cannot) defy the vested interests of influential individuals. Often, politicians make human mistakes but are afraid to face the political and economic consequences of redressing those mistakes.
And sometimes the truth lies somewhere in between.

Take the case of Mr. Robert Schubert. In the summer of 2006 his wetlands garden dried up when the city of Rye allowed a neighbor to install a dry well where none had previously existed. Rye’s naturalist at that time, Chantal Detlefs (who was away when the permitting error was first made), has since categorically stated: “The only way the dry well does not require a Wetland Permit would be if one already existed in the exact same location at the exact same depth and size, etc.” (cf: Letter from Ms. Detlefs dated 02/18/09 to Rye City Mayor Otis & Council Members)

Despite the clear fact that the city of Rye failed to follow through on appropriate wetlands permitting with regards to Mr. Schubert’s garden — a simple error which should have been speedily rectified — the Rye City Council has drawn out this process for more than three years. Why?

During this time Mr. Schubert has been diligently trying to get the problem solved; apparently a nuisance to the city council. In a bizarre “act of concern and compassion” for Schubert, Paul Shew, Rye City Manager, actually called the Westchester County Medical Center Crisis Team to “evaluate” him. Schubert contends this was done in an attempt to silence him at council meetings. Only now, with a groundswell of public outrage in support of Mr. Schubert, is the city council making any headway towards resolving this situation. Yet still at the February , 2009, meeting Shew had the temerity to declare public interest and support for Schubert, “just a publicity stunt.” The question is why?

Are legitimate environmental issues too unimportant for Rye government to address? They shouldn’t be. That’s what more and more people concerned about protecting the environment for future generations want their cities and towns to do. So the question remains: why do environmental codes get short shrift?

Similar questions hover with respect to Rye’s Hen Island. This 25-acre, privately owned island in Milton Harbor has been the subject of scrutiny by concerned locals, government officials and environmental groups such as Long Island Soundkeeper headed by Terry Backer. Few, if any, safety, sanitary or building codes are enforced on Hen Island. The question is why?

Why, for instance, was Ron Gatto, the eminent lead investigator of the Westchester County Environmental Enforcement Unit, removed from the Hen Island case after he reported health and environmental issues serious enough to close the island? Or should we ask “who” removed him?

Why did Gatto’s successor to the Hen Island case, Westchester County Deputy Health Commissioner Len Meyerson, find no such health issues even though some open, untreated sewage pits exist less than 10 feet from the shoreline? According to Meyerson, two inspections determined no sewage was leaking into Long Island Sound. When queried by a local reporter he glossed over the issue thusly: “…Mother Earth is the best way of making sure that the pollutants are removed from human waste — from sanitary waste water.” In other words, once sewage effluents are diluted by the Sound, there’s no problem. Is this an appropriate attitude for a public health official in one of the most affluent counties in the U.S.?

At the moment questions outnumber answers. To get answers, more concerned citizens need to bring pressure to bear on public officials. Insist on candor and transparency. Refuse to be brushed aside with platitudes and double-talk.

Keep asking them “Why?” environmental laws and health codes are being ignored …

I’m not sure what or who’s side all of you nay sayers are on so please help me understand this. Guys like myself,Ray,Wry Rec.,etc.who are only interested in exposing the truth & seeing that something is done about it for the good of everyone in Rye are constantly defending that very truth in these blogs. You people-the ones who don’t identify themselves,are always bashing. Did someone steal your girlfriend/boyfriend in 5th grade or something? Why do you have such a problem w/this? Sometimes one has to take extreme measures to get their point across! What’s so bad about that just as long as they are not harming anyone & it is all about the truth? YOUR FIGHT SHOULDN’T BE W/US! CALL ME SIMPLE-BUT I JUST DON’T GET IT!!!

Ray let me ask why.

Why wasn’t Shew fired?

Why wasn’t Plunkett fired?

Why did Otis and 5 other members of the Rye City Council vote to continue the coverup by refusing to do the investigation Councilman Sack wanted to do?

Councilman Sack is an experienced prosecutor who performed many investigations. He knows what to look for and how to get information. He obviously had strong feelings that something was seriously amiss with the Mr. Schubert matter.

Councilman Sack was very critical of Plunkett’s tactics which were done at the behest of Otis. Was this because Plunkett’s tactics were improper or unethical and contrary to standards?

Why would Plunkett give to the very person who was being investigated, Shew, evidence and other documents he gathered during his investigation?

Why would Councilman Ball say no money has ben spent so far to investigate the Mr. Schubert matter when Plunkett was being paid to look into the matter, to gather information and to gather documents to give to of all people, Shew?

Why would Plunkett call the main witness in the coverup investigation prior to the Council voting on doing an investigation? This appears to me to be highly improper, unethical and reeks of obstructing an investigation or at the very least thwarting Councilman Sack’s intent on doing one.

Why would Otis make a motion to hire a hydrologist prior to any discussion whatsoever had taken place? This was very unusual and appears to me was done by Otis to circumvent any discussion by other Council members and the public which could lead to a motion not to the liking of Otis, Shew and Plunkett.

Who is the hydrologist hired by Rye to do the study at Mr. Schubert’s property? Who chose the hydrologist?

Ray/Wry/Mr Amico –

Now let me ask – if Shew, Plunkett, Otis and everyone else on the council were “fired”, what is your plan then? Will the three of you step in to run the show? You certainly seem to be anxious to get new management. What’s the next step once our existing heads are cut off? Or have you not thought this through enough?
It’s not enough to complain about problems, if you want to be effective, find solutions. And please, don’t tell us that anyone would be better. I shudder to think how bad our city would be run if YOU were in charge.

Scooter,
First and foremost thank you for coming out of the closet and stating that you are in fact one of the Rye City council members. Maybe you can convince your cohort Linus to do the same.

Personally I feel that Mr. Shew, Mayor Otis and Mr. Plunkett should be replaced. That being said, I have been in the automotive industry for thirty five years, and also involved with a multitude of real estate, construction and development projects. I don’t have the least amount of knowledge with regard to running a municipality. Nor have I ever claimed too. I can tell you this, regardless of what you do in life or who you are, you need integrity and honesty. If you don’t have that no matter what you do, you will fail. It is my belief that Mr. Shew, Otis and Plunkett all lack the aforementioned. Maybe if the council stopped protecting all the abuse and the abusers, a few will be replaced and attitudes and perception will follow. I know there are many in Rye with the same thoughts and feelings. I am not just speaking of those who blog here, I speak of many that don’t even own computers. Good luck my friend you have a long road ahead.

Ray,

You are entitled to your belief, but that doesn’t make you right. Glad to see you admit that you haven’t a clue as to how to run a municipality.
Would you concede the point that a 30 year-plus veteran of managing city business is more qualified than you? Not to sound like a parent scolding a child, but is it possible that decisions were made that result in the greatest good for the masses, even though a very few may be inconvenienced?
Presumably, you bought your property on Hen Island knowing full well the condition of the site. If you don’t like it anymore, sell. If you didn’t bother to do your due diligence, you deserve to own a guano-encrusted dump that can’t be sold. And if you’re honestly concerned about the long-term dangers of human habitation to the surrounding eco-system, practice the honesty and integrity you promote and start a move to eliminate human habitation on Hen Island. Heck, if you’re so concerned about the environment, what are you doing selling cars and developing real estate for 35 years?
And yes, you’re right, I do have a long road ahead of me, one that I am happy to travel down, because I’m young and healthy, and I’m also not in the habit of caving in to a few timid souls who spend their time complaining of a perceived injustice that primarily impacts only them.

On target scooter..
exposing the obsurd turd

We currently pay Shew $200,000 to do nothing. Given all of Shew’s reported shenanigans, I believe he is a pathetic example of a human being and has no place being Rye’s City Manager.

Pickup gets paid $150,000 to do all of Shew’s work as Shew’s assistant. If we fire Shew, we could promote Pickup and pay him $175,000. Pickup already does all the work anyway and therefore would not need an assistant.

Not only would we be getting rid of the completely worthless Shew, we would save $175,000 a year.

Why? –

In theory, your logic makes sense. But your assumptions are deeply flawed – it’s obvious you have no clue about management and how it works.
No doubt you agree with Ray, Amico and Wry Record that there is a vast conspiracy against the entire police force, Amico and Mr. Floatie himself, Ray Tartaglione (not to mention Schubert). If this is true, wouldn’t the assistant city manager, the city engineer, the city controller, the city attorney, the city clerk, the city police commissioner and perhaps even the building inspector be in on this? Why not fire them all? And exactly how would you go about hiring better staff?
And let me also ask, if this is really a conspiracy, qui bono? (That’s Latin for “who benefits?”, in case Mr. Floatie stopped his education in 3rd grade).
Perhaps you’ve watched too many conspiracy movies, but it seems to me that the plot usually starts to get interesting when the erstwhile heroes (that would be you, Ray, Wry and Amico) move to uncover the sinster plots of the nefarious characters (that would be the aforementioned city employees). At this point, the heroes are usually silenced permanently by a “mechanic”, “fixer” or “cleaner” such as Max Von Sydow in 3 Days of the Condor.
So why hasn’t Rye benefitted by such an event to silence you all? The answer is simple – there is no conspiracy, just three or four whining and delusional residents who couldn’t grasp reality if it came and sat down right next to them.

Scooter,
Your years of experience exemplify that you have much more experience than I. Somewhere in that equation has to be honesty and integrity. It’s Ok to play chess with decisions but don’t bring in extra pawns or castles and hide them under the table.
“Greatest good for the masses, even though a very few may be inconvenienced?”
With regard to Hen Island, the local masses you speak of are the citizens of Rye that use the harbor and waters for boating and pleasure. The masses you speak of swim, boat and fish from the shores of Shenarock, Cloveleigh, American and Greenhaven. A few of the fisherman use the stone dock to feed their families. Maybe you haven’t noticed that. While just 500 feet away sewage pits dot the shores of Hen Island.
“Due diligence” I did my due diligence and asked the questions about sewage. The answer to my attorneys was that the systems were working and legal. When in fact they were not. After all who would have ever thought that an entire community could have existed in this day and age without health and building code compliance? How a community could be allowed to fly under the radar of enforcement for so many years is mind boggling. You know what “Floatie happens”. It’s not the end of the world. But now that we all know about it WHY NOT FIX IT? Write the violations and have the homeowners comply and if they can’t or will not then yes make it a park. But don’t lie and say that the Island doesn’t have any problems. The only one that stands to gain with that response is the city attorney. (Did I make a light bulb go off? Are the bells ringing?) Why did the city attorney tell the building department not to respond to any of my concerns? Could it be because the last time that happened in Dobbs Ferry it cost the Village almost three million dollars. A good portion of that were legal fees.
In the seventies there was a show on TV called Lost In Space. The robot was the one that saved everyone from danger. He would use the words “Danger Will Robinson Danger’ if danger was close. If the robot was with us today he would say “Danger Rye Residents Danger”

Wow scooter
Three cheers for common sense

Spoken like a desperate City of Rye Councilman up for re-election in November.

FYI: One of your fellow Council members made the accusations you are referring to.

The fixer you refer to is whoever replaces Otis and the three other capon Councilmen up for re-election this year.

Somebody call the Wolf.

“If this is true, wouldn’t the assistant city manager, the city engineer, the city controller, the city attorney, the city clerk, the city police commissioner and perhaps even the building inspector be in on this?”
Scooter,
You left out Shew and Otis from your list. I believe most are honest hard working people; a few are involved but most are just like Chantal. Following orders and afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t. It’s a very difficult position to be in and I am happy not to be working for the City of Rye. They must go home with knots in their stomach every night. I have a great GPS for that long road you have ahead of you. I named it “honesty and integrity” and it works great. Let me know if you would like me to show you how to use it.

Asking Ray to show you how to use the “honesty and integrity” GPS would be like qualifying him to teach a class at the Mosquito School he claims to have attended…..He claims the residents of Greenhaven need to fear the swarms of mosquitos flying from Hen Island to Greenhaven…..I would have loved to be a mosquito on the wall of THAT class…
Mike

Ray –

My GPS works just fine. You should not only rely on Honesty and Integrity, but Sanity as well – it will land you in the real world, not Fantasia.

To the best of my knowledge, the City Attorney does not gain from this situation in the slightest. By advising the city that your questions have been asked and answered at the county and state level, he is doing his job by telling the employees not to waste their time to address issues that have already been addressed by higher authorities.
Perhaps you’d have more luck if you approached Spano and/or Paterson with this shocking violation of environmental laws. No doubt they’d rank it right up there with the occasionally backflowing toilets in the Pleasantville Schools and the illegal dumpings of grass clippings on public parks in Yonkers.
Please bear in mind, as you struggle to re-create Eden on earth, that the only way for you to be truly carbon-neutral is to be dead. Since moist of us aren’t quite ready to commit to that level, please cut us all some slack and let us live with the fact that life here on the third rock from the sun ain’t perfect.
Also, I’m surprised that Rye residents feed their families from the catch off the stone dock. Don’t they know that Costco sells great frozen salmon steaks?

Lastly, have you considered the fact that your little fish friends are “polluting” the waters of the Sound by unceremoniously passing their own fish feces? How to you plan on addressing this shocking affront to healing the harbor? Fish diapers? Flounder potty training? Acquarian pooper scoopers? Do tell!!

Scooter,
I thought you may be interested in this Letter. I sent out to Vinnie Tamburro just after the Chantal story broke. I have not received a response as of today. Maybe you can get him to respond publicly since he has not responded in private.

Dear Vinnie,
I write to you in light of the recent facts involving the Bob Schubert wetland cover-up. Most of the Schubert issues have already been exposed and hopefully will be dealt with in an appropriate manor. Chantal Detlefs and her husband are brave and courageous people to speak out the way they did. I say that because I understand Chantal’s husband is still an employee of the city of Rye. I have only met Chantal once, and have never met her husband, but I am aware of many people in Rye, Bob Schubert and myself included, that are willing to come to their defense should any retaliation surface.

The reason I’m contacting you today is to ask you to display the same courage that Chantal and her husband have. I am requesting you to expose this administration for the corruption that has plagued Rye for years. I refer to the present Hen Island conflict that you were personally involved in on July 17, 2007. As you know, Hen Island was inspected on that date for health, safety and environmental code violations. You and environmental inspector Ron Gatto debated who would issue the violations and wanted the island closed until remediation was performed. Your exact words ring in my head over and over again, “Ron, I am a one-man show. For me to issue all of these violations would inundate my office. The county has a much larger staff and is better equipped to handle violations of this magnitude.” To my amazement, and I am sure yours as well, a few weeks later the city of Rye’s city manager (Paul Shew) told the New York Times “No violations were found when Rye’s building inspector, along with county health and environment officials, inspected the island in July.” I was shocked and outraged.

Inspector Gatto was immediately removed from the case and asked not to discuss it with anyone including me. When I questioned you, I was told you had been informed not to discuss the case with me. When I asked County Executive Andy Spano (a long-time friend) to look into the matter, he told me his people advised him not to discuss it with me due to the fact that the case was in litigation. Mr. Spano said, “ Ray, we can have breakfast or dinner and talk about anything you like but we can’t talk about Hen Island.”

Westchester County replaced environmental inspector Gatto with Deputy Health Commissioner Lenny Meyerson and Meyerson issued a response similar to that of Mr. Shew. Except Meyerson went further and issued a two-page letter and had it delivered to Judge H. Bellantoni, the Judge presiding over my case against Hen Island in the Supreme Court. As a result of Myerson’s actions and statements to the court, my case was dismissed inappropriately and is now in front of the Appellate court in Brooklyn; hopefully awaiting a reversal.

I believe this was all a plan by the City officials (involving political favoritism) in hopes that I would go away, just as they hoped that a psychiatric examination would prove that Bob Schubert did not need to be taken seriously. Fortunately, neither one of us went away — which brings us to today.

I have been working since August of 2007 in the hopes of exposing the current administration and their complete disregard of the laws put in place to protect the people and the environment.The snowball is running down the hill, Vinnie, and you can be the one to steer to into the tree so it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Please have the courage to come forward and confirm my story. Please speak out before someone gets hurt on Hen Island from another fire. Or a child drinks water from a kitchen sink filled with bird feces. Please speak out to stop the untreated sewage from entering the sound. Join Chantal in having the courage to be honest even though mistakes have been made in the past. We will stand behind you just as we stand behind Chantal.

This is America and we need to remove corruption from our political offices in order to have true freedom. The same freedom Bob Schubert fought for on the shores of Okinawa we are both fighting for today on the shores of the Long Island Sound; only this battle is fought with the pen. You, my friend, can help us win.

I hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. I’m sorry if it created turmoil.
Naturally, I wish these incidents had never happened. I’ve seen the pain and frustration and fear in your face each and every time talk about it — this is no way to live. But you can help make it go away. I hope the future brings much needed change not only in your life and career but also in the life of everyone that this corrupt administration affects on a daily basis.

Sincerely,

Ray Tartaglione

“To the best of my knowledge, the City Attorney does not gain from this situation in the slightest.”

Scooter,
You can’t possibly be that naive. I just told you “Your years of experience exemplify that you have much more experience than I.” I take my statement back.

Excellent questions you’ve posed “Why”.

Also many thanks to MyRye for posting the links to the documents on the City of Rye’s website. I’d been looking for them on the ryeny.gov site without any luck.

Back to Mr. Schubert’s issues and what appears to have been a big mistake on Rye’s part in the oversight of the construction on Magnolia. What’s next? It appears that the construction on Magnolia must have included a dry well, for one thing. It appears that Rye dropped the ball in a very, very serious way.

I certainly hope that the right and proper remedies will be sought, brought to pass across the board -and that the Schubert’s exquisite pond and wetland will come back life by spring.

Please keep us posted on the next act!

Ray…why not spend this snowy day watching a good movie?…May I suggest The Caine Mutiny….Tell me if Captain Queeg appears familiar….Here’s a brief outline of the story, in case you’re too busy….

“..Soon the paranoid, strawberry-loving Captain Queeg (Humprey Bogart) takes charge and tries to clean up the ship, arousing the hatred and suspicion of the other officers, especially a flippant lieutenant (Fred MacMurray). Eventually the men stage a mutiny, and a subsequent trial ensues, at which point a sharply intelligent military lawyer (José Ferrer) takes up the matter.”…..

Scooter…you are my new hero! Thank you for your common sense posts.

You are a breathe of fresh air (especially when Mr. Floatie is around)!

Ray, it’s not that I’m naive, it’s just that your arguments make no sense. Please tell us all how the city attorney benefits in this situation.
Then, for extra credit, can you please explain to us all how the following people and institutions are wrong, and why you are right.

City Engineer.
City Building Inspector.
City Attorney.
City Manager.
County Environmental Inspector.
County Deputy Health Inspector.
NY State Supreme Court.

Finally, for the gold star, resolve this issue for the class… You state that you believe this is all a plan by city officials to make you go away. (by the way, if that’s true, then my hat is off to these officials for being able to corrupt the highest court in the state, as well as numerous other governmental officials with which they have absolutely no overriding authority). Exactly why are the city officials doing this – what is their gain? And is it possible – just possible – that they’ve done the jobs that they’re trained to do, looked at Hen Island and came to the logical conclusion that the Hen Island is an existing situation not subject to subsequent laws?

Why don’t you just come out and admit that you want a government – any government – to build a sewage line to Hen Island that would benefit your investment? At the end of the day, Ray, it’s YOU who would benefit if our elected officials cave in to a bad real estate investor who employs a paper mache turd and a jalopied piece of junk that’s barely street legal.
But please, stop trying to turn every issue within Rye’s borders into your own melodramatic tale of “Mr Floatie Goes to Washington”. You’re no Jimmy Stewart, and 99.9% of Rye’s residents don’t want to hear it. The remaining 0.1%, or 15 individuals, are simply reading your diatribes for entertainment value alone – sorta like watching a particularly inept suicide bomber at work.

Mike,
Try The Changeling for a good snow day movie. It is more applicable to what has happened to Bob Schubert in Rye last month.
Inspired by actual events, it tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LA city after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine’s son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force and Mayor at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered and committed to a pcyiatric hospital by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb.

Sorry gang! I got to go and make a few bucks to feed Jack A he eats like a horse!!

Scooter – I think November will take care of your transition concerns, unless someone or some-all go earlier under an ethics proceeding. It’s a real possibility here given the accumulating number of allegations of malfeasance against the top guys. And the council’s trusted “advisor” is becoming politically radioactive on a region wide basis. By April, this thing will be very much bigger.

For Mr. Floatie to compare himself with Mr. Schubert is horrific.

Mr. Schubert has refused to sue his neighbor even though his neighbor’s actions seem to have damaged his property, regardless if the city is at fault or not.

Mr. Floatie makes baseless accusations and files frivolous lawsuits against his neighbors because he wants things his way regardless of what his neighbors want, even though the agencies and the courts agree with his neighbors.

And, unfortunately, we all pay for his lawsuits with taxpayer dollars.

For shame.

Here are some examples of
“baseless accusations and files frivolous lawsuits”

http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/images/sewage/21.jpg

Mr. Floatie,
You forgot about this one. Here is another example of “baseless accusations and frivolous lawsuits”
http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/images/water/24.JPG

Jack A. Mr. Floatie’s ass-istant

How sad. reduced to URL flashing

Scooter Linus and QD,

I am doing my best to be the best ass-istant I can be. Here is a picture of the horse troughs that store water and breed the Hen Island mosquitoes. Each home on Hen Island needs to store over 1000 gallons of water to supply the cottage with water. 1000 gallons X 34 cottages= 34,000 gallons of stored stagnant water. Hen Island has a mosquitoes infestation not exceeded anywhere in Westchester County. Step one of the Westchester County mosquito control program is to eliminate stagnant water. I am trying to train the mosquitoes not to fly to Greenhaven but they just don’t listen.

So here is another reason for the “baseless accusations and frivolous lawsuits”

http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/images/water/25.jpg

http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/images/water/27f.JPG

http://healtheharbor.com/gallery/images/water/26.JPG

Paul Shew, Rye’s city manager, also questioned the validity of Mr. Tartaglione’s claims. Mr. Shew said, “No violations were found when Rye’s building inspector, along with county health and environment officials, inspected the island in July.” (Ref: New York Times September 9th, 2007)

Mr. Shew added, “The city building inspector had last visited Hen Island in July with county Health Department officials and members of the county environmental police. No health violations were observed.

You guys are right Ray Tartaglione is as crazy as a Jay Bird. Maybe you should send the crisis team for evaluation????

My wife Barbara and I happen to be Ray Tartaglione’s neighbor on the north end of Hen Island. I have witnessed all of the violations stated here and on the heal the harbor website. I can assure you that they are accurately portrayed. The city officials sending smoke screens aloft in an effort to discredit Ray and his supporters should be held personally responsible for there actions and statements. I am proud to say he is a personal friend of mine and I place his honesty, integrity, and determination among the highest I have ever known. The Board of Directors for Hen Island and some of the residents that inhabit it and blog here should be ashamed of them selves in there similar efforts to avoid compliance and discredit Ray. Keep up the pressure Ray we support you at every turn.

“if that’s true, then my hat is off to these officials for being able to corrupt the highest court in the state, as well as numerous other governmental officials with which they have absolutely no overriding authority).”

Scooter,
Put your hat back on. It’s nothing to be proud of. But it does show your mentality.

Are people aware that Paul Shubert is 86 yrs old and in the highest risk categoty for west nile virus? Filling his private swamp/pond with fresh water will most certainly increase the odds that Rye will be liable if Paul Schubert dies from west nile inflicted by a mosquito breeding in his private swamp/pond. I would say his neighbor is doing him a favor by constructing such an efficient dry well.

I wonder, since Paul Schubert seems to think he is entitled to water resources that reside on his neighbors property, whether if Mr. Schuberts neighbor struck gold would Mr. Schubert claim he is entitled to share in his neighbors new found wealth? Paul Schubert seems to be more of a socialist, neighbors sharing the resources than a free market capitalist. I applaud Mayor Otis for being a man protecting the rights of private property owners. We have enough socialist in gov’t these days without Rye’s gov’t turning socialist too.

Scooter,
I am sorry to say Mr. Floatie is sick today. He didn’t have the strength to get out of bed. His diarrhea is the worst case I have ever seen. We are treating him with mega doses of Kaopectate. I must say this is all because of your statement about his car.
Your statement calling his car “a jalopied piece of junk that’s barely street legal” sent him over the edge. He is so depressed I am about to call Mr. Shew to send the crisis team. I don’t think it makes a difference but he did want you to know that his 1938 Classic Chevrolet was purchased from Mr. David Boise of Chappaqua. He said the car was original purchased by Mr. Boise during a fund raiser years earlier.
In case you are not aware of whom Mr. Boise is he is one of the most prominent attorneys in the country. He defended Al Gore during the Gore/Bush presidential campaign recount of 2000. In addition Boies was also Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Antitrust Subcommittee in 1978, and served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 1979.
After Mr. Floatie calls Mr. Boies to advise him that his prize 1938 Chevy has been deemed “a jalopied piece of junk that’s barely street legal” I am sure Mr. Boise will be similarly saddened and possibly bed ridden also.

Sincerely Yours,
Jack A.
Mr. Floatie’s ass-istant

Hey My Cry –

The mosquito problem began when the natural water flow to the pond was disrupted by the new construction. Before that the moving water prevented larva formation. I think the CCAC is now in agreement on this matter. And ALL the neighbors here are at risk because of this – not just Mr. Schubert – whose first name is Bob BTW.

Mr. My Cry,
You have it backwards. A property owner is entitled to the flow of water continuing onto his property. This is called riparian rights. There are many people who own property on rivers and streams that are valuable and upstream owners are not entitled to alter the flow. Just imagine if Colorado stopped the flow of the Colorado River and dried up LA?
The real socialism is the City requiring government permission to do anything and baniing you from using perfectly legal things like leaf blowers and preventing you from working on your own house on the weekends.

Ray –

So you you bought that piece of junk from a lawyer. Are you trying to claim you have friends in high places? Why doesn’t you little legal friend help you with your problem? is it because he knows you have no case?

Scooter,
I think what Ray is trying to claim is that you act like me. So far this week you get the “Jack A. Emulator award”. Last week Mr. Shew took it home with a landslide after he claimed Mr. Schubert used his phone call to the Crisis Team as a Publicity stunt. I will let you know on Friday when the presentation officially takes place. As of now you have first place without a doubt.

Ray, your logic is more twisted than a New York City pretzel. Exactly how does the genesis of that piece of junk relate to the questions I raise that you refuse to answer?

SCOOTER,
Intruptus Magnus Fetus + Scooter= City Council…”A LARGE PIECE OF SMELLY CRAP THAT’S COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE”!!! We are being effective & finding the solution.The answer will be reveald in November! By The Way-YOU CAN’T HAVE A SOLUTION WITHOUT ADMITTING THERE IS A PROBLEM! You ask if the 3 of us would step in to replace you misfits-how hard could that be-what goes on in City Hall is obvious to 3rd graders. For the record I never claimed to be a Politician… But since it falls in line w/being a good bullshitter I think I can handle it. And another thing – I never use the word “Conspiracy”!
But it seems to be!!! If you take your head out of your ass your memory might start to work again…. I,Like my friends tried the suttle approach,the Mayor & the rest of you wanted nothing to do with it. I asked for ONE SINGLE STOP SIGN….1st – I was told Midland Ave.is a COUNTY OWNED ROAD & Rye has “NO JURISTRICTION”. 2nd – I was told NEW STOP SIGNS or MID-BLOCK Stop Signs are dangerous & ineffective.
To condradict this – I am told in writing By our County Legislature that Rye has COMPLETE JURISTRICTION. Then there is the “MID-BLOCK” Stop Signs the City has installed on Wappanocca & Theall Roads. To top it off Ms.Parker,@ today’s Chamber of Commerce meeting tells the world that Stop Signs will be replacing traffic lights on Purchase Street to make it safer for everyone. So don’t preach to me “PERCEIVED INJUSTICE THAT PRIMARILY ONLY IMPACTS THEM”! The only Self Servers in Rye reside on Wednesdays in City Hall!!! That’s a load of Mr.Floatie if I’ve ever heard it. As I said @ Wednesday’s meeting… “I CERTAINLY HOPE YOU TAKE EXCEPTION TO WHAT I AM SAYING”! Nice to know I struck a nerve.

Okay, Jim, once you’ve calmed down, please expand on the following comment:
“The only Self Servers in Rye reside on Wednesdays in City Hall”.
Exactly who benefits, and how? This is the question I raised before. I can’t see how the council benefits, unless you think every one on the council enjoys front row seats to the best freak show in town.
The persons who stand to benefit here are demanding the city to make exception on their behalf by imposing governmental authority over private property, to benefit their private interest (Ray, Bob, you). Nice to know that council members have backbones and aren’t fooled by your shenanigans.

Scooter,
We call it “POWER TRIPPING”.I am not looking to argue your point on how you benefit-I don’t really care-I just want my street along w/the rest of Rye to be SAFER! By the way- How does a Stop Sign on Midland Ave. benefit me directly on my behalf? I am not asking for anything “ON MY PROPERTY”. What “Shenanigans” have I tried to pull? Maybe if the Council would change how they do business you wouldn’t have to worry about “THE BEST FREAK SHOW IN TOWN”! And maybe if the Council would spend as much time on the subject of STOP SIGNS as you are spending on this thread something just might get accomplished that would make us all happy!!! I am asking the City to use Stop Signs as a way to make the streets safer. Starting with the corner where a 10 year old boy was struck & killed. I am shocked or should I say use to be shocked that anyone would argue the point of a Stop Sign being used to help regulate traffic[in all aspects] in making things safer. Here is where you people lose & infuriate me….. SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME….”THAT WE ARE ALL BORN WITH COMMON SENSE BUT SENSE ISN’T COMMON”! I haven’t spoken to one person outside City Hall who agrees with the line of thinking that is used on the subject of Stop Signs. It is simple common sense that Stop Signs are very effective. As usual The Line of Thinking is…. let’s drag this out for 3 years or how forever long it takes the resident to prove us different. That is a hell of a way to respect a family that has gone through the ordeal we have,or an 86 YEAR OLD MAN. Being treated the way I have been has really made me an angry person. I am being forced to show a side of me that I would much rather not & I don’t appreciate it. FYI- IN 1957 a little girl about Jarrid’s age was struck & killed on her bicycle on Midland Ave. 1 block up. I am not asking for miracles here-just for the people in the position to make changes to do so. You can’t honestly tell me that Midland Ave. is safer w/no changes & no added Stop Signs!!! IF you do…than I think we have made our point on ANYONE can sit in those chairs @ City Hall. Just so we are all on the same page…My beef is w/the RPD[Connors & his lieutenants] as well as the City of Rye. Don’t want you to feel all alone in this!!! P.S. IF YOU WOULD STOP TO TAKE THE TIME TO THINK WHERE MY ANGER STARTED MAYBE YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND IT BETTER!!!!

My turn!

“The persons who stand to benefit here are demanding the city to make exception on their behalf by imposing governmental authority over private property, to benefit their private interest (Ray, Bob, you).”

Andy I’m sorry I mean Scooter,
You are right in one respect, I will benefit should the city enforce the applicable laws. The Island will be a safer place for all. This is not about money and investments in a piece of property. I love that little island. The money I have invested out there is Monopoly money and Hen Island is not Boardwalk. I can assure you of that. I have no intentions of selling and I am not demanding anything. I am exposing a mayor and city council that not only refuse to enforce the laws put in place to protect the people and the environment but also tries to cover-up the aforementioned by making statements like;

Paul Shew, Rye’s city manager, also questioned the validity of Mr. Tartaglione’s claims. Mr. Shew said, “No violations were found when Rye’s building inspector, along with county health and environment officials, inspected the island in July.” (Ref: New York Times September 9th, 2007)
Mr. Shew added, “The city building inspector had last visited Hen Island in July with county Health Department officials and members of the county environmental police. No health violations were observed.

Now we all know all of the above statements are LIES. Take a look at this. This is the lab reports on water samples taken from nine cottages on Hen Island. Take notice that eight of the nine tested positive for total coli form and five out of eight tested positive for E. coli

http://healtheharbor.com/documents/ScannedLabData.pdf

Below are the lab reports stating that eight out of nine cottages did not meet New York State and federal drinking water standards.

http://healtheharbor.com/documents/Hen%20Island%20Water%20Quality%20Results.doc

Should you want verification of the truth just visit the website HEALtheHARBOR.com. If you still don’t believe the truth let me know and I will be happy to walk you or any other disbelievers thru the Island.

I hope you realize I am not asking the city to make any exceptions. Once again what I am asking the city to do is to enforce the laws presently in place. That is what Bob Shubert also was asking.

Chantal was the one to blow up the city in the Schubert case. With the Hen Island case there are many more players, and many more Chantal’s available to talk only with different names. When they start talking you will see the same thing only this time you will see county and state agencies involved. I have said this before. I am truly sorry it had to come to this but I also realize there are no accidents in life and this is the way it was meant to be. I once thought you may be one of the ones to implement the changes necessary but I can plainly see from your attitude that you are not. Sis was right; you should be ashamed of yourself.

Ray –

Now for the $64,000 question – what makes you think I’m Andy?

Scooter,
I thought I told you to take a few days off?
Don’t you love my laugh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUDT-VsHDN4&NR=1

Even Santa Clause knows you and the Mayor are wrong.

http://healtheharbor.com/video/santa_floatie.html

Jack A. (Mr. Floatie’s Ass-istant)

So sorry to disappoint, but I’m going to continue to point out the flaws in your logic and your self-serving attempts to browbeat local, county and state government into doing something that primarily benefits you.
Virtually everyone who’s looked at the issue has claimed there’s nothing wrong with Hen – even the courts! How is it that all these people are wrong and you are right? You are a delusional paranoid, that’s how!
I urge you to seek professional help.

That’s what they said to Schubert.

Not true, Ray. The facts are these:
– The city manager informed the county health department that they were concerned for Bob’s health.
– Following standard operating procedure, the county health department then contacted Bob and asked if he wanted to discuss, informing him that if he said no, the matter would be dropped, and if he said yes, the matter would be treated as strictly confidential.
– After a lengthy meeting, Bob then contacted the press directly to inform them of the event.
– The county was contacted out of concern for Bob’s well-being.
– The county never called Bob a delusional paranoid.
– Bob publicized this event himself, possibly to generate exposure to his issue.

“The city manager informed the county health department that they were concerned for Bob’s health.” Could you clarify who “they” are?

“…..Below are the lab reports stating that eight out of nine cottages did not meet New York State and federal drinking water standards.”….

Ray…again, you are derelict in your attempt at presenting the truth….You know full well none of the Hen Islanders are drinking water off their roofs…you’re being silly and losing listeners with such bunk…Tell me this Ol’ Learned One…Ol’ Mosquito School graduate….How long have there been summer residents at Hen Island ?? How many have become ill because they spend summers there ?…
Additionally, where do many Bermudians get their DRINKING water??….In case Mosquito School didn’t cover this question….the answer is….off their roofs…
Here’s some very interesting information about states and countries which gather rainwater…and, after boiling it..DO drink it…

http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/ircsa/factsheets.htm

Why let rainwater fall off the roof onto the ground, wash down a hill, then pick up a bucket and go down the hill to gather the water to bring it back up to the house, to use???..
Mike

The following is what we believe transpired and sparked Mr. Shew’s call to the Medical Center Crisis team. By the way we don’t believe Mr. Shew acted alone and we do believe the call was premeditated and not an act of kindness.

Mr. Shubert after complaining for three years was building support from some very influential long time Rye residents along with the veterans, seniors and regular Schubert supporters that were behind him from the beginning
including Nita Lowey (which is where Mr. Schubert was earlier that day when he first spoke to Mr. Shew. Mr. Shew was upset when he found out that Mr. Schubert was at Mrs. Lowey’s office to begin with) Bob Schubert had recently told his story once again, only this time to the Westchester community via a local Radio show on WVOX “Midday’s with Meg Miler”. Shubert was an instant success on the radio and this brought Schubert more attention and was building even more momentum that the city didn’t like.

Bob Schubert complaining about environmental non compliance at the city meetings and all of a sudden here shows Ray Tartaglione with and eight foot turd Mr. Floatie also attending City council meetings, complaining about the same issues. Now so that someone does not connect the dots, one of the two opponents has to be taken out of the picture to reduce the pressure at the city meetings. Seeing as rumors were spreading that Schubert was very distressed and visually weakened after not making any headway with the city council for years, what better way to induce more pressure than to send the crisis team for a visit. For that may really push him over the edge, especially at 86 with cancer and breathing problems. Shew made the call that
was heard throughout Westchester and thanks to Chantal’s compassion and feelings the rest is history.

A troubling scenario is unfolding before our unsuspecting eyes. It is the weakening
and erosion of private property rights of every single taxpayer in Rye. The most disturbing part
is that the taxpayers, the property owners themselves, are the ones demanding it and are being used to further this movement. The Rye City Council and Building Dept are admirably resisting this movement.

The mob scene that played out the other night at the City Council meeting demonstrated this. The supporters of Joe “McCarthy” Sack have sided with Mr. Schubert and have accused the gov’t of mistakes, possible corruption and cover-up in a case involving Mr Schubert’s neighbor’s drywell. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters are accusing the City Council of siding with Mr. Schubert’s neighbor and not Mr.Schubert. In essence, these supporters are trying to twist the Rye Govt’s defense of Mr. Schubert’s neighbor’s property rights into a case of priviledge with corruption and a cover-up. Mr. Schubert’s neighbor’s property rights are what this whole debacle is about. This has nothing to do with Mr. Schubert. He has no rights when it comes to his neighbor’s property. Mr. Schubert’s neighbor is the one
who owns the property where this dry well exists, the one who owns the water
that is on his property, the one trying to exercise his right to
protect his property by fixing the drywell and the one trying to exercise his right as a property owner. The City Council is right to defend the neighbor.
At the meeting the other night the mob was demanding that Mr. Schubert’s neighbor relinquish his rights and allow Mr. Schubert to take control of what is rightfully his neighbors, the water on the neighbor’s property. What Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters fail to understand is that an erosion of a single taxpayer’s property rights is an erosion of ALL taxpayers property rights. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters are accusing Rye City Council of exerting Orwellian control on all Rye property owners except those that are “connected” or priviledged. They follow that if the gov’t comes to the aid of a property owner and respects his rights, the property owner must be “connected” and therefore being treated with some sort of priviledge which means the govt is covering up something and is corrupt. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, it is the Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters who are exerting Orwellian control on Rye property owners by siding with Mr. Schubert who has no rights to his neighbors property and demanding that the Rye City Council give him the rights.. Ironic isn’t it? The biggest proponents of strong Rye property rights has ended up being the Rye gov’t while the biggest opponents to strong property rights has ended up being the property owners themselves! The slogan “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us!” would be very fitting for Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters. How could it be that the gov’t is the biggest defender of property rights in Rye while it’s citizens are the biggest attackers?
How could this have happened? Well, The fear card has been played again and is being used to advance the movement of property right erosion. Identically to the fashion in which US citizens agreed to the erosion of their personal rights with the enactment of the Patriot act to protect them from terrorism, the citizens of Rye are giving up their property rights in fear of gov’t corruption being used to ignore code violations and other supposed wrong doings by select private property owners of Rye who supposedly are “connected”. The logic follows that, if only the priviledged property owners are connected , it implies that the rest of Rye property owners are getting screwed.

Which leads us back to where this whole story started…. Hen Island. The initial push to erode Rye taxpayers rights started with Hen Island. Accusations of code violations, fear of gov’t cover-ups and priviledge and a fear of an unorthodox way of life started it off. Again the gov’t comes to the rescue of the property owners rights. The Heath Dept’s Commissioner Myerson is quoted in the paper as saying the situation is delicate because Hen Island is PRIVATE PROPERTY. The govt’s rush to the defense of Hen Island’s property rights is twisted into accusations of a cover-up because Hen Island is supposedly connected. The gov’t implicitly states that private property owners have strong rights but Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters scream cover-up and allegations of corruption. The City of Rye’s defense of Hen Island’s property rights is twisted as a cover-up. The Supreme Court in White Plains agrees with the Rye govt’s view. Again, with the courts decision, taxpayer property rights are defended by the gov’t. The Rye City Council except for Joe “McCarthy” Sack should be commended. Rye should feel proud that they have a gov’t which has not given into this fear driven movement.

Accusations of code violations have played a major role in the movement to erode property rights. Here’s how it works. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters scream about code violations and the cover-up of them on Hen Island. Then Greenhaven joins in the accusations. Hen Islanders fire back. They launch their own accusations at Greenhaven and other private property owners in Rye who own property on the sound. Greenhaven and the other property owners fire back at Hen Island. All that was needed was a little push in the form of a lawsuit and an article in the Journal News and the whole situation proceeds into a downward spiral. The downward spiral feeds on itself. The spiral is very much like the deflationary spiral we’re in today but instead of assets being depreciated, private property rights are being depreciated by the owners themselves. Every property owner now begins to throw stones from their own glass house because 99% of all houses in Rye are not up to code. Unless you just finished your house yesterday, you could be the next victim of accusations of code violations. It’s as simple as living in a house with 2X4 exterior walls. If you do, you are in violation of current building code. As you see, as people throw stones at Mr. Shubert’s neighbor or at Hen Island you are in effect eroding you’re own property rights. To deny Hen Island’s right to propane is dening your right to propane. Denying Hen Island’s right to standing water is denying your own right to standing water. Denying Mr. Shubert’s neighbor’s property rights is denying your own property rights. The gov’t can only resist the stupidity of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s supporters for so long. If the supporters grow large enough then we will have a City Council full of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s. If that happens anyone could be the next victim, it just depends on who they want to pick on next. The ironic thing is that the next victim could be one of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s supporters. It reminds me of the Jews who thought they would be spared as they loaded the cattle cars with their fellow Jews for the Germans. They we’re told they would be spared. And we know what happened next. The Rye City Council except for Joe “McCarthy” Sack should be commended for how they’ve handled themselves so far and I hope they succeed.

Who benefits from this horror show? Obviously not the property owners in Rye. A person that could benefit would be someone who doesn’t pay taxes in Rye and waits until the situation spirals out of control to move in. There are candidates that fit this description. A trip to the assessors office could prove revealing..

So what do we do? Well, first off, JOE MUST GO!. Joe’s supporters must come to their senses instead of vowing to stick around for ever. In November ,Sack must not be allowed back on the City Council. With his stunt of trying to take the Council’s business onto myrye.com he has proven he is an amateur. He still hasn’t given the people of Rye a good answer as to why he did that. Councilmen Pratt is still waiting for an answer. Secondly, the next time you see Joe “McCarthy” Sack out in Rye say “Thanks for Nothing, Joe!” because if this spiral of weakening and eroding private property rights continues, that is what Rye taxpayers property rights will be worth, NOTHING.

Red Scare,

Tell me if my song reminds you, of your thought process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmLS_jkxPRs

Patsy

Your song reminds me of my girlfriend sucking on my ejector tube.

Nuff said.

A troubling scenario is unfolding before our unsuspecting eyes. It is the weakening
and erosion of private property rights of every single taxpayer in Rye. The most disturbing part
is that the taxpayers, the property owners themselves, are the ones demanding it and are being used to further this movement. The Rye City Council and Building Dept are admirably resisting this movement.

The mob scene that played out the other night at the City Council meeting demonstrated this. The supporters of Joe “McCarthy” Sack have sided with Mr. Schubert and have accused the gov’t of mistakes, possible corruption and cover-up in a case involving Mr Schubert’s neighbor’s drywell. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters are accusing the City Council of siding with Mr. Schubert’s neighbor and not Mr.Schubert. In essence, these supporters are trying to twist the Rye Govt’s defense of Mr. Schubert’s neighbor’s property rights into a case of priviledge with corruption and a cover-up. Mr. Schubert’s neighbor’s property rights are what this whole debacle is about. This has nothing to do with Mr. Schubert. He has no rights when it comes to his neighbor’s property. Mr. Schubert’s neighbor is the one
who owns the property where this dry well exists, the one who owns the water
that is on his property, the one trying to exercise his right to
protect his property by fixing the drywell and the one trying to exercise his right as a property owner. The City Council is right to defend the neighbor.
At the meeting the other night the mob was demanding that Mr. Schubert’s neighbor relinquish his rights and allow Mr. Schubert to take control of what is rightfully his neighbors, the water on the neighbor’s property. What Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters fail to understand is that an erosion of a single taxpayer’s property rights is an erosion of ALL taxpayers property rights. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters are accusing Rye City Council of exerting Orwellian control on all Rye property owners except those that are “connected” or priviledged. They follow that if the gov’t comes to the aid of a property owner and respects his rights, the property owner must be “connected” and therefore being treated with some sort of priviledge which means the govt is covering up something and is corrupt. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, it is the Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters who are exerting Orwellian control on Rye property owners by siding with Mr. Schubert who has no rights to his neighbors property and demanding that the Rye City Council give him the rights.. Ironic isn’t it? The biggest proponents of strong Rye property rights has ended up being the Rye gov’t while the biggest opponents to strong property rights has ended up being the property owners themselves! The slogan “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us!” would be very fitting for Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters. How could it be that the gov’t is the biggest defender of property rights in Rye while it’s citizens are the biggest attackers?
How could this have happened? Well, The fear card has been played again and is being used to advance the movement of property right erosion. Identically to the fashion in which US citizens agreed to the erosion of their personal rights with the enactment of the Patriot act to protect them from terrorism, the citizens of Rye are giving up their property rights in fear of gov’t corruption being used to ignore code violations and other supposed wrong doings by select private property owners of Rye who supposedly are “connected”. The logic follows that, if only the priviledged property owners are connected , it implies that the rest of Rye property owners are getting screwed.

Which leads us back to where this whole story started…. Hen Island. The initial push to erode Rye taxpayers rights started with Hen Island. Accusations of code violations, fear of gov’t cover-ups and priviledge and a fear of an unorthodox way of life started it off. Again the gov’t comes to the rescue of the property owners rights. The Heath Dept’s Commissioner Myerson is quoted in the paper as saying the situation is delicate because Hen Island is PRIVATE PROPERTY. The govt’s rush to the defense of Hen Island’s property rights is twisted into accusations of a cover-up because Hen Island is supposedly connected. The gov’t implicitly states that private property owners have strong rights but Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters scream cover-up and allegations of corruption. The City of Rye’s defense of Hen Island’s property rights is twisted as a cover-up. The Supreme Court in White Plains agrees with the Rye govt’s view. Again, with the courts decision, taxpayer property rights are defended by the gov’t. The Rye City Council except for Joe “McCarthy” Sack should be commended. Rye should feel proud that they have a gov’t which has not given into this fear driven movement.

Accusations of code violations have played a major role in the movement to erode property rights. Here’s how it works. Joe “McCarthy” Sack supporters scream about code violations and the cover-up of them on Hen Island. Then Greenhaven joins in the accusations. Hen Islanders fire back. They launch their own accusations at Greenhaven and other private property owners in Rye who own property on the sound. Greenhaven and the other property owners fire back at Hen Island. All that was needed was a little push in the form of a lawsuit and an article in the Journal News and the whole situation proceeds into a downward spiral. The downward spiral feeds on itself. The spiral is very much like the deflationary spiral we’re in today but instead of assets being depreciated, private property rights are being depreciated by the owners themselves. Every property owner now begins to throw stones from their own glass house because 99% of all houses in Rye are not up to code. Unless you just finished your house yesterday, you could be the next victim of accusations of code violations. It’s as simple as living in a house with 2X4 exterior walls. If you do, you are in violation of current building code. As you see, as people throw stones at Mr. Shubert’s neighbor or at Hen Island you are in effect eroding you’re own property rights. To deny Hen Island’s right to propane is dening your right to propane. Denying Hen Island’s right to standing water is denying your own right to standing water. Denying Mr. Shubert’s neighbor’s property rights is denying your own property rights. The gov’t can only resist the stupidity of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s supporters for so long. If the supporters grow large enough then we will have a City Council full of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s. If that happens anyone could be the next victim, it just depends on who they want to pick on next. The ironic thing is that the next victim could be one of Joe “McCarthy” Sack’s supporters. It reminds me of the Jews who thought they would be spared as they loaded the cattle cars with their fellow Jews for the Germans. They we’re told they would be spared. And we know what happened next. The Rye City Council except for Joe “McCarthy” Sack should be commended for how they’ve handled themselves so far and I hope they succeed.

Who benefits from this horror show? Obviously not the property owners in Rye. A person that could benefit would be someone who doesn’t pay taxes in Rye and waits until the situation spirals out of control to move in. There are candidates that fit this description. A trip to the assessors office could prove revealing..

So what do we do? Well, first off, JOE MUST GO!. Joe’s supporters must come to their senses instead of vowing to stick around for ever. In November ,Sack must not be allowed back on the City Council. With his stunt of trying to take the Council’s business onto myrye.com he has proven he is an amateur. He still hasn’t given the people of Rye a good answer as to why he did that. Councilmen Pratt is still waiting for an answer. Secondly, the next time you see Joe “McCarthy” Sack out in Rye say “Thanks for Nothing, Joe!” because if this spiral of weakening and eroding private property rights continues, that is what Rye taxpayers property rights will be worth, NOTHING.

Otis, Pratt, Cunningham and Ball are the only ones that can be voted out in November and they should be.

Whether or not you support Mr. Tartaglione or Mr. Schubert, Otis, Pratt, Cunningham and Ball have allowed Shew to embarrass us all and to bring a lot of shame and discredit upon our community. There have been NUMEROUS warning signs that Shew was not up to the task, going back to before Otis hired him, and all the warnings were ignored.

Councilman Sack’s term ends December 31, 2011. He deserves a shot with a NEW Mayor and three NEW Council members to right the sinking ship.

Anyone who bases their vote solely on the basis of the Hen Island issue, or the private matter between Mr. Schubert and his neighbor, should be banished to Hen Island for the next four years. There’s lots more issues facing our city than these two items. Theft, speeding, DUI/DWI and large mobile turds lurking in our midst all come to mind.
Someone should tell the police to do their jobs – arrest the robbers, speeders, drunk drivers, and use a giant pooper scooper on Mr. Floatie!

“Your song reminds me of my girlfriend sucking on my ejector tube.”

Looks like while I was sleeping someone tried to discredit my message already. I wonder who? I can assure you I did not write this. I apologize for the child who did. I try to look at the world rationaly unlike Joe “McCarty” Sack supporters who think 8 Council members are corrupt and only one uncorrupt one. I offer rational solutions like this one…. Anyone ever think of advising Mr. Shubert to fill up his pond with a hose? Is that to simple of a solution or do we need to be subjected to City Council meetings that look like a scene out of Doctor Doolittle. Maybe that solution might too simple for the cover-up and corruption crowd.

Red Scare –

Based on your earlier submissions, which made a lot of sense and did not delve into juvenile fantasies, I suspected your tag had been hijacked by Ray or one of his cronies to discredit your sound argument.
I predict that others will suffer the same fate in short order – perhaps Jay Sears needs to tighten up security rights!

Hey Red Scare, you are way off base. First, there are only 7 on the Council. Second, this Council has done more to limit private property rights than any other Council – leaf blower bans, bans of working on your own house, etc. What the Council did wrong here was, at best, to stonewall Mr. Schubert based on the misleading information provided to it by the staff. If the staff made a mistake, well, we’re all human. But responsible adults own up to their mistakes and don’t try to sweep them under the rug. Then, on to of this cover up, Shew, Plunkett, Pratt, Parker and Otis all went out of the way to denigrate Schubert. In Stalin’s USSR, political opponents were simply labeled as crazy and sent off to gulags. If it worked for Stalin, why not for Otis?
So, this leaves me wondering, what did the City Council members know and when did they know it? If they didn’t know what was going on, then they weren’t doing their job and they all should resign. If they did know, they misused the power of the government to abuse an innocent citizen. Since Sack was the only one who is seeking out the truth by asking for an investigation, you have to assume Sack has nothing to hide and everyone else on the Council did something wrong or is covering up for someone else who did. It smells rotten and looks like another coverup.

Hey Old Timer,
I agree with you. I posted this a few days ago on a similar note. I thought you may have missed it. I am posting it again for two reasons one because I think you may have missed it and two because I haven’t heard from Linus, QD, and Scooter all day. This really got them ticked off the other day when I sent it out to our mailing list of over 750 interested parties and then posted it on the Journal News website. I guess the truth really does hurt. One of the news papers is picking it up as a letter to the editor and the other is going to do the full story. Here it is again. Enjoy!

BTW; In addition to Shew, Scooter also thinks Mr. Schubert used this as a publicity stunt. Imagine, they turn this despicable act around and make it Bob Schubert’s fault. It gets “better” every day.

Who Are They Protecting? Not the Environment …

When elected officials fail to implement environmental laws there must be a reason.

Occasionally the reason is that these officials will not (or cannot) defy the vested interests of influential individuals. Often, politicians make human mistakes but are afraid to face the political and economic consequences of redressing those mistakes. And sometimes the truth lies somewhere in between.

Take the case of Mr. Robert Schubert. In the summer of 2006 his wetlands garden dried up when the city of Rye allowed a neighbor to install a dry well where none had previously existed. Rye’s naturalist at that time, Chantal Detlefs (who was away when the permitting error was first made), has since categorically stated: “The only way the dry well does not require a Wetland Permit would be if one already existed in the exact same location at the exact same depth and size, etc.” (cf: Letter from Ms. Detlefs dated 02/18/09 to Rye City Mayor Otis & Council Members)

Despite the clear fact that the city of Rye failed to follow through on appropriate wetlands permitting with regards to Mr. Schubert’s garden — a simple error which should have been speedily rectified — the Rye City Council has drawn out this process for more than three years. Why?

During this time Mr. Schubert has been diligently trying to get the problem solved; apparently a nuisance to the city council. In a bizarre “act of concern and compassion” for Schubert, Paul Shew, Rye City Manager, actually called the Westchester County Crisis Team to “evaluate” him. Schubert contends this was done in an attempt to silence him at council meetings. Only now, with a groundswell of public outrage in support of Mr. Schubert, is the city council making any headway towards resolving this situation. Yet still at the February 25, 2009, meeting Shew had the temerity to declare public interest and support for Schubert, “just a publicity stunt.” The question is why?

Are legitimate environmental issues too unimportant for Rye government to address? They shouldn’t be. That’s what more and more people concerned about protecting the environment for future generations want their cities and towns to do. So the question remains: why do environmental codes get short shrift?

Similar questions hover with respect to Rye’s Hen Island. This 25-acre, privately owned island in Milton Harbor has been the subject of scrutiny by concerned locals, government officials and environmental groups such as Long Island Soundkeeper headed by Terry Backer. Few, if any, safety, sanitary or building codes are enforced on Hen Island. The question is why?

Why, for instance, was Ron Gatto, the eminent lead investigator of the Westchester County Environmental Enforcement Unit, removed from the Hen Island case after he reported environmental, safety and health issues serious enough to close the island? Or should we ask “who” removed him?

Why did Gatto’s successor to the Hen Island case, Westchester County Deputy Health Commissioner Len Meyerson, find no such health issues even though some open, untreated sewage pits exist less than 10 feet from the shoreline? According to Meyerson, two inspections determined no sewage was leaking into Long Island Sound. When queried by a local reporter he glossed over the issue thusly: “…Mother Earth is the best way of making sure that the pollutants are removed from human waste — from sanitary waste water.” In other words, once sewage effluents are diluted by the Sound, there’s no problem. Is this an appropriate attitude for a public health official in one of the most affluent counties in the U.S.?

At the moment questions outnumber answers. To get answers, more concerned citizens need to bring pressure to bear on public officials. Insist on candor
and transparency. Refuse to be brushed aside with platitudes and double-talk.

Keep asking them “Why?” environmental laws and health codes are being ignored …

Sincerely,
Ray Tartaglione

“If the staff made a mistake, well, we’re all human. But responsible adults own up to their mistakes and don’t try to sweep them under the rug. ”

What if there were no mistakes made?

Can you imagine the 10’s of thousands of gallons of sewage that was washed into Blind Brook when Downtown and Indian Village was flooded? Not to mention all the toxic chemicals in peoples basements. Gas, anti-freeze, oilbased paints. What an ecological disaster. And all this was the gift of Rye’s riparian rights. God Bless riparian rights.

Hey Red Scare,

I took your advice and went down to the assessors office and I found out some facts that I’d like to share with you. Turns out Hen Island cottage owners are not considered residents of Rye. The is only one taxpayer for Hen Island and it’s the corporation that runs the Island. The cottage owners don’t get the right to Rye Schools or anything of that nature. The cottage owners pay a maintenace fee to the corporation but are not Rye taxpayers. Not a bad cash cow for Rye. I also found out that Hen Island residents pay non-resident fees in the Rye Boat Basin. Again not a bad deal for Rye considering there must be over 40 cottages out there. That’s at least 40 boats paying non-resident fees in the marina. Hen Islanders also pay to park, buy ice in the basin, and frequent the businesses on Milton Road especially the deli across the street. If Hen Island was condemed I would think it would effect the Boat Basin’s revenue plus the businesses on Milton Road, not to mention the Rye distributor. In this time of financial crisis the last thing Rye needs is lost revenue whether your talking about the govt, the boat basin or the local businesses. Don’t forget that the boat basin will probably lose some upper end boat this year due to the collapse of wall street and the small Hen Island boats will help carry the burden. What’s most disturbing is it seems we have a councilmen and a blog site that seems hell bent on being sympathetic to this fear mongering. What’s even worse is the force behind it is not even a Rye Taxpayer or Resident. Are the council members elected to protect Rye’s finacial concerns or are they elected to protect the interests of Rye non-residents who pay no taxes to Rye. This blog also seems to be sympathetic to the flotie man cause. Do these people who claim they love Rye aware that they are destroying what they claim they love? Peoples lives and jobs depend on Rye residents resiting the fear mongering.

One does not have to be a Rye resident to be treated fairly, honestly and respectfully by the City of Rye administration.

I would like to see Mayor Otis explain to a non Rye resident American Yacht Club member why their child encountered a floating turd or propane tank while swimming or boating off AYC. Does he tell them that it came from a non Rye resident’s property and there is nothing he can do about it?

Why did Otis recently appoint a Hen Island property owner as the Chairperson of the Rye Conservation Committee?

With regard to Hen Island, before the naysayers start complaining the last few posts were from me. I can assure you they were not but I could not of said it better myself.

Dear Can You Imagine,

“What’s even worse is the force behind it is not even a Rye Taxpayer or Resident.” Can you clarify that for me? Were you referring to Mr. Plunkett or someone else?”

signed,
Get the guy that makes the most money from all this

Dear Get the guy that makes the most money from all this:

How is it that Plunkett gets paid to give the Rye City Council legal advice and then the Rye City Council hires him to file or defend the lawsuits he advised them on? Isn’t this double dipping? Is this legal? Is this ethical?

Otis pays Plunkett these legal fees on top of his very generous salary and medical benefits.

Dear Should someone call the 9th Judicial Grievance Committee –

Let me explain how the relationship works between the city attorney and the city council.
The city council retains the services of an attorney to provide legal advice and to represent the city in all lawsuits, frivolous and otherwise. It is not “double-dipping” to look to one legal firm (or one lawyer) to provide both advice and representation. It’s simply good business, and is both legal and ethical.
Mr. Otis does not pay Plunkett any legal fees. The fees are paid by the City of Rye, and can be found in the budget document on the website.
I’m not sure that Plunkett receives any salary or medical benefits – I think his firm only gets a retainer, which is applied against time spent on city matters. Any time spent above and beyond the retainer is billed directly to the City of Rye.
Plunkett’s firm has billed the city more than normal in the past few years, but most, if not all of the excess, was to address numerous capricious lawsuits claiming civil rights violations of a certain city employee. Unfortunately, the city is legally required to address every legal challenge, and the employee knew how to play the game to drag on the charade for months and years. A change in his attorney right before trial, for example, brought the discovery process back to the beginning stages.
I suppose Plunkett and his firm have this idiot employee to thank for all of his billings, but it comes at a very real cost to every taxpayer in Rye.
So there you have it, all you wanted to know about the relationship between the City of Rye and it’s City Attorney. Congrats, you’re now ready to sit for the Bar Exam!

Scooter,

I heard Ray Tartaglione was awarded well over 2 mill in Dobbs Ferry and I also heard he has a friend that also won a case in Irvington. I think his award was well over two Million also. I read in the below article Mamaroneck got banged for a few also.

http://harringtononline.blogspot.com/2008/01/mamaroneck-village-settles-day-school.html

Rye better be nice to Schubert or he may make the big boy list also. So far Rye has been lucky but when you gamble sometimes you lose.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dkn481KcjvMo&ei=G0WxSfOyAo-Etgekk6jEBw&sa=X&oi=video_result&resnum=1&ct=thumbnail&usg=AFQjCNEeIFf-3O8i8-uO0vEhDgtIg5horA

Hey! I may be a donkey. But I ain’t stupid???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3AMuA2A4nw&NR=1

Jack A. (Mr. Floatie’s Ass-istant)

Wow Scooter!!! You don’t even know if Rye is paying Plunkett a salary and medical insurance, yet you try to pass yourself off as some sort of expert on this. Very impressive.

I suggest that you actually read Plunkett’s invoices before spewing lies and libel on this website. If you happen to be a City of Rye Council member or City of Rye official or agent, you could end up costing the City of Rye more in legal fees if you haven’t already.

So, Ray was awarded $2 million in Dobbs Ferry? How interesting – we now know who stands to profit, huh?

When they make the full length movie. I already have the name. We will call it “MY RYE” It includes all the ingredients needed for the silver screen, corruption, greed, deception, intrigue, comedy, action, mental acuity. Can someone drag some sex into this story to make it complete. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Please drop me a post on My Rye.com. I have just begun to conduct auditions for the cast. Here is the line up so far. I will get back to you on the rest of the cast.

Dudley More as Mayor Otis

http://www.mugshots.net/dudley_moore/dudley_moore.jpg

Bela Lugosi as Kevin Plunkett

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://folsomprison.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/belalugosi14.jpg&imgrefurl=http://folsomprison.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/bela-lugosis-last-supper/&usg=__e8wLt_vvJ6Wtx0UWMu5_e9QkxGY=&h=504&w=447&sz=21&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=JO2yH-xZwJ27NM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbela%2Blugosi%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Bobby D.

Three more confirmations just in.

Omar Sharif as Bob Schubert
Claudia Cardinale as Rita Schubert

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTYzNDM5OTA0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNzQxMzQ2._V1._SX450_SY363_.jpg

Chris Farley as O Paul Shew

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.patheticpersonals.com/images/farleyexplode.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.patheticpersonals.com/describe.shtml&usg=__PcLoArEwr0dFHdLUAKEHwcT9la8=&h=209&w=245&sz=21&hl=en&start=110&um=1&tbnid=q_R19fCYVGR7_M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3DChris%2BFarly%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D100%26um%3D1

Bobby D.

Bobby D:

I was thinking more like the Land of the Misfit Toys meets the Wizard of Oz.

Hermey the Elf played by Otis

Abominable Snow Man played by Shew

Rudolph played by Mr. Jack A.

Scarecrow (No brain) played by Connors with Verille, Falk and Reichert as under studies

Tin Man (No heart and needs to be greased once in a while) played by Plunkett

Lion (No courage) played by the entire Rye City Council except for Sack

The Wicked Witch of the West played by Rye City Clerk Nodarse

The nice witch played by Sis D’Angelo

Dorothy (In a trance and leading the rest of City Council down the path to OZ) played by Otis

Toto played by Pickup

Oz (No one knows who he is and what he does) played by Shew.

Let me get this straight. I would have a better chance getting Joe Sack’s or Jay Sears ear if I lived in Yonkers than if I was a Rye resident? Unbelievable.

Some one correct me if I’m wrong.

Joe Sack’s politcal platform is based on priviledge for anyone who isn’t a resident in Rye , for the bankrupting of one of the greatest resources Rye has to offer, the Rye Boat Basin, for the contraction of the Rye tax coffers, for the riparian rights of Downtown and Indian Village which guarantees continued flooding in the future and for the destruction of revenue for small businesses in Rye. Was the entire city of Rye engaging in a massive crack orgy on election night when they elected this guy into office? I want to laugh but I think I’ll just crye.

WHY – There isn’t/wasn’t a Massive Crack Orgy everytime Otis got Re-Elected? You know – the guy that is responsible for bringing us Shew & Connors!!! The THREE CLUTZES OF RYE combined couldn’t run a MASSIVE CRACK ORGY without screwing it up! I am in no way claiming to be a J.Sack fan- But come on- I wouldn’t leave the Big Three in charge of a BAKE SALE!!
THE entire council looks like SWISS CHEESE to me!!!!

Otis also brought us Kevin Plunkett, Julia Novak, the Beaver Swamp fiasco that he willingly and happily signed off on, he took away the public dock at Milton Point and left us with a concrete abutment while giving AYC an easement we have yet to see the consequences of, and best of all has turned Rye into a no accountability and retaliatory government.

I don’t mean to laugh but I have to. It’s a joke!

Like the Budweiser commercial. Mack, this one’s for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUDT-VsHDN4&NR=1

Jack A (Mr. Floatie’s Ass-istant)

When Is a News Channel Not a News Channel?

A TV news channel is no longer a bona fide reporter of NEWS once it ceases to cover matters that are news. A news channel would also be considered as less than credible if it abstained from covering newsworthy events on the say-so of local government officials. A news channel’s primary responsibility is to report on newsworthy events — regardless of who’s involved in those events and regardless of who might, or might not, prefer that those particular events be covered.

Several months ago, for example, local channel News 12 expressed interest in extending its coverage of health, building and environmental code violations on Rye’s Hen Island. This added coverage never took place and attempts by environmental watchdog Heal The Harbor to find out why have led, in part, to this conclusion: Coverage of this issue may have been “discouraged” by either Rye City Mayor Steven Otis or Westchester County or both. Why?

Another newsworthy item, and troubling topic for the Rye City Council is the case of 86-year old Mr. Robert Schubert and his wetlands garden. For three years Mr. Schubert has been valiantly trying to get the Rye City Council to address and correct the wetlands error made by the city. Support for Mr. Schubert, a retired IBM engineer and World War II veteran, is becoming widespread. Outspoken citizens of Rye crowd the city council meet- ings to speak on his behalf. His front page plight is covered regularly by The Journal News, and all over the internet — especially by those concerned about the environment. And yet New 12 has not covered this issue at all.

Does News 12 think its viewers aren’t interested in local environmental issues? Why? Whose editorial guidelines is News 12 following with respect to these stories? To what extent might they be influenced by local or county governments?

As for the city of Rye and the Westchester County Health Department — are they afraid their poor decisions with regard to the Hen island and Schubert issues will bring unwanted public attention?

News 12 Networks is part of Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Call Cablevision’s corporate headquarters and ask them about their editorial policies. Call News 12 and ask them about their editorial policies. Call Westchester County and ask them to comment on health, environment and safety code violations on Hen Island. Then call the Rye City Mayor’s office and ask why they (apparently) fear simple investigative reporting about conditions on Hen Island, and Bob Schubert’s wetlands garden.

There is an old adage: Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel. Despite its implicit warning to avoid antagonizing the media, there are times when certain questions must be raised — and answered. This is one of those times.

News is news. Selective reporting is infotainment. And the viewers of Westchester County deserve better. Everyone benefits from impartial reporting from a free press.

Rye is turning into the Land of the Misfit Toys meets the Wizard of Oz.

Hermey the Elf played by Otis

Abominable Snow Man played by Shew

Rudolph played by Mr. Jack A.

Scarecrow (No brain) played by Connors with Verille, Falk and Reichert as under studies

Tin Man (No heart and needs to be greased once in a while) played by Plunkett

Lion (No courage) played by the entire Rye City Council except for Sack

The Wicked Witch of the West played by Rye City Clerk Nodarse

The nice witch played by Sis D’Angelo

Dorothy (In a trance and leading the rest of City Council down the path to OZ) played by Otis

Toto played by Pickup

Oz (No one knows who he is and what he does) played by Shew.