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Comment on Letter to the Editor: Andrew Cuomo’s Corrupt Albany By Prof. ZEPHYR TEACHOUT by CYA

CYA — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:15:30 +0000

If you are part of the problem why would you make any attempt to fix it. That is what people should focus on. “Looking back on Andrew Cuomo’s career of dubious public service, we see that he was intimately involved with our Federal government’s inept malfeasance at the inception of the housing bubble & the related fraud schemes connected to HUD, as depicted in The Sopranos episode: “The Strong, Silent Type”. Cuomo was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Bill Clinton. Given the “full” extent of Cuomo’s prior achievements in life, namely having being born the son of corrupt politician Mario Cuomo, we might at first assume Andrew’s ineffectual tenure at HUD was merely due to incompetence. But then we are faced with the continuing failures of Andrew Cuomo to take any meaningful prosecutorial action against the organized crime families which undeniably profited during the housing bubble. Cuomo knows well enough that the RICO laws can join the disparate players of mortgage brokers, lawyers, appraisers, Realtors, and flippers as a criminal enterprise whose vast earnings would be forfeited to the government after conviction. Isn’t New York State in a tough economic predicament? Why did Cuomo so quietly fail to even attempt to punish those parties responsible for assembly line frauds which contributed to the magnitude of the housing bubble and its certain collapse? It seems that prosecuting one of your own is just not a resume line item for the mafia’s prize boy”

Comment on BREAKING NEWS: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Has Agreed to Step Down While Facing Federal Corruption Charges By HEZI ARIS by not wanted

not wanted — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:46:52 +0000

bye bye silver……….. Cuomo next

Comment on 18 to 24 Inches of Snowfall Expected from Nor’Easter from Monday Night Into Wednesday. January 26th to 28th By HEZI ARIS by Bring back Eddie

Bring back Eddie — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:17:21 +0000

At least the roads were half ass salted make then.

Comment on EMERGENCY NOTICE Regarding YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS for Monday, January 26, 2015 — Early Dismissal PreK-8; No PM PreK by New jersey government office is sending home employees at noon

New jersey government office is sending home employees at noon — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 17:11:35 +0000

Hope everyone gets home safe…

Comment on EMERGENCY NOTICE Regarding YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS for Monday, January 26, 2015 — Early Dismissal PreK-8; No PM PreK by The roads are slippery

The roads are slippery — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 17:01:52 +0000

The roads are too slippery for all those school buses. Safety must be paramount..
We should have had half day classes for every student. There is a blizzard warning, major impact on driving conditions for the afternoon. Every other school announced half-day schedule…

Comment on 18 to 24 Inches of Snowfall Expected from Nor’Easter from Monday Night Into Wednesday. January 26th to 28th By HEZI ARIS by The roads are getting slippery

The roads are getting slippery — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 16:54:11 +0000

The roads are slippery. Hope the school buses are able to make it down the seven hills safely. I wish schools closed earlier at least half day…

Comment on BREAKING NEWS: Empress Ambulance at a Standstill; YFD and YPD Working Off Backlog of Over 80 Calls Awaiting Response By HEZI ARIS by Lighten Up!

Lighten Up! — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:10:02 +0000

MAN! People are being really harsh on Empress and the Minerva Family! Some people definitely are disgruntled. Look, the Minerva Family has been dedicated to serving the City of Yonkers for over 30 years. If they were that bad, the company would have folded and the City would not keep giving them the 911 EMS contract. Do I agree about the way that they do business? The answer is “NO”. I do not agree with they way they conduct business. I spent time managing an EMS agency for a 7 year period, so I do have an understanding on how to run things, but the Minerva Family owns and runs the company and they are free to run it how they see fit.
Mrs. Minerva owns the company, but she is not there for the day to day operations. Mike is usually in his office 5 days a week and he is aware of many of the things going on within the company. Matt is in charge of the billing department , so he has his hands full with that alone. The Billing Department has their hands full, especially when crews fail to get proper billing information from patients that are treated and transported. Dan spends a lot of time at the company also. He listens to the radios and monitors the CAD system. He is often seen inside the Communications Division. He is not afraid to jump in and answer the phone or the radio if needed. Many times, when the sh*t hit the fan, Dan has jumped right in, pulled up a chair and started helping the Communications Division’s staff. Over the years, I have worked shifts with Dan and I had no complaints about the way he did his job.
As far as other Managers/Supervisors go, there are mixed feelings there. Daryn as the Director of Operations, NO COMMENT!!!!! Scott Holland as Assistant Director of Operations, although his entire life revolves around playing Golf, he is a very reasonable and fair guy. If he can help you with a problem, he will do everything in his power to do whatever he can do for you. He is also awesome at dispatching. I have never seen or worked with a guy who can multi-task the way that Scott can. The 911 system and the transport system could be going to sh*t and Scott can handle everything by himself. I have witnessed this personally a bunch of times.
Field Supervisors: Marcel Cekuta – Great leader, very calm under pressure. Also a great Paramedic. Stands up for his crews and has their backs. Mike Blecker – Another great leader as a well as a great paramedic. He is known to be a black cloud while on duty, but when the sh*t hits the fan, I take comfort in knowing that he will be out there busting his ass and getting the job done. Mike Jeffries – No comment. Toni-Ann Scherer – No comment. Esthela Michel – The best person for the job of Support Services Supervisor. She is very organized, very fair and very easy to get along with. Frank Perez – Another great addition to Support Services. Easy going and very fair.
There are many great EMTs & Paramedics who work for the company. The 911 & transport systems tend to get very busy, especially during the day. The EMTs & Paramedics bust their asses to get the job done, even if it means getting off late from their shifts, not getting meals breaks and working in vehicles that are not in the best of conditions.
Working for Empress in the City of Yonkers is a great way to get great experience out in the field. We see things that we would never see in the outside systems or while working in agencies further up north. It is just very unfortunate that many of the best EMTs & Paramedics end up leaving the company to take higher paying jobs with better working conditions.

Comment on MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR: Bag Ban, Pothole Buster, Downtown Advocate, Deer, and Art By PETER SWIDERSKI by Useless

Useless — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 09:51:26 +0000

Darting Deer?

Good grief………

Comment on BREAKING NEWS: Empress Ambulance at a Standstill; YFD and YPD Working Off Backlog of Over 80 Calls Awaiting Response By HEZI ARIS by Hiring Nick Spano is cheaper than hiring more EMT's

Hiring Nick Spano is cheaper than hiring more EMT's — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 17:37:21 +0000

Why would Empress hire more EMT’s or buy better equipment or put chains on their ambulances or treat their employees better? There’s no need to do any of these things. They hired Nick Spano to be their consultant in “Albany” on state legislation. Nick will call up little brother Mike next time he is up in Albany and make sure Empress doesn’t have any issues and gets there contract with the city extended no matter how poorly they operate. Make sense to me. Nick and Mike learned everything they know from crooks like Sheldon Silver, Joe Bruno, Alan Hevisi, Vincent Liebel, Guy Velella and many others.

Comment on BREAKING NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Alleged Suicide Attempt by Cop at Redmond Field (Cook Field) in Yonkers By HEZI ARIS – Updated by YPD Commissioner CHARLES GARDNER by Stop

Stop — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 01:59:01 +0000

Why?