It will cost you $1000 to smoke outside in Great Neck New York. Is it worth it to you?

If you plan on visiting Great Neck New York in the near future I hope you don't smoke. As of this past Wednesday the 5th it has become officially illegal to smoke outside in certain areas in Great Neck. This law began with Residents complaining to Great Neck Mayor Ralph J. Kreitzman who is a previous smoker himself. They were complaining that second hand smoke from smokers standing outside stores was flowing back inside the stores.

According to the new law you cannot smoke within 125 feet of Middle Neck road in front of commercial businesses. Middle Neck road in Great Neck is a major road with many business sprawling along side of it. The law also states you cannot not smoke in the Village Green which is a public park , the local public housing and park benches leading up to Middle Neck road. The total non smoking area is 1.3 miles in the center of Great Neck. If you are caught smoking illegally you can face up to a $1000 fine or 15 days in jail. The first sidewalk smoking Ban in the U.S. was in Berkley California in 2008.

Is this new law going too far or not far enough in your eyes? When is enough enough? To me our society is slowly turning into all those classic sci-fi movies like Clock work Orange , Minority Report, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and so on.


Newsday - Great Neck Village smoking ban takes effect.

Ny State Governor Cuomo winks Goodbye to Unions with a proposed one year freeze on state workers pay.

In keeping with his word newly sworn in Ny Governor Cuomo has begun finding ways of slashing Ny states $9 billion defecit. One of the fist places is going to be the once untouchable state union workers. Gov. Cuomo has proposed a one year salary freeze on all state workers. The proposed freeze in pay is meant to show the state is in serious financial trouble, also that the Governor is willing to make hard fiscal decisions. The pay freeze would be a savings of $200 to $400 million for the year.

Governor Cuomo has two things going for him, in March the unions contracts are up for negotiations and also both Republicans and Democrats or shying away from unions right now with all the major deficits that have to be paid for. Ny State has 190 thousand workers in the union system the vast majority of them are represented by the Civil Service Employees Association. The CSEA has said that they are willing to negotiate with the state but they don't want to feel like the are being backed into a corner.

It once was dream for many getting into any type of union. The union represented security, health care , pensions and consistent raises. Now Unions represent big expensess over bloated pension funds and major health care bills. Over the past few years look at all the big blows Unions have taken. To be a Teamster these days it cost more then you get paid , Uaw got wiped out with Gm , Ford renegotiated and now State unions are starting to get a economic reality check.

Ny Times - Cuomo Plans One-Year Freeze on State Workers’ Pay

Senate Republicans say NO to helping 9/11 First Responders

Senate Republicans on Thursday Prevented a measure to provide extra funds to September 11th first responders who have become sick from working at the World Trade Center site. The Bill that was voted down was called the Zadroga Bill after a New York City police officer who died from respiratory disease. The vote came out to 57-42 which allowed the Senate Republicans to hold up the bill.

Republicans vowed not to pass any further legislation until The tax cut and Government funding Bill were passed first. They also had concerns about how the government was going to come up with the estimated $7.4 billion it would take to fund the 9/11 bill. Sadder then the fact that it has been ten years and this bill still has not passed next year with the change in power it's very unlikely the Zadroga Bill will even make it to the house floor.

New york state Sen. Kristen Gillinbrand said "Frankly, it's exactly whats wrong with Washington -- an example of politics put above the people". Sen. Chuck Schumer vowed "to pursue every possible route" before the end of the year to pass the bill. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it's “a tragic example of partisan politics trumping patriotism,” and that Republicans should reconsider.

I just wrote a post about hypocrisy and here you again before the ink dries the Republicans seem to through up another example. I hate to keep on picking on Republicans but when you refuse to pass a $20 billion un employment bill or even worse a $7.4 billion 9/11 first responders bill in order to first pass a $900 billion two year tax extension things seem pretty clear to me. God forbid we have another attack I hope first responders don't second guess doing their jobs because of this lack of support.













BloomBerg - Senate Republicans Block 9/11 Bill


Government Excutive - Republicans block 9/11 health bill

Mosque Money Shocker

Mosque Money Shocker

If you thought the location of the Controversial Mosque in lower Manhattan near ground zero was a fire storm wait until you read this. Being from New York I have a little bit of a different perspective maybe then other Americans. I believe that the Mosque has the right as long as it's done legally to locate anywhere it wants. Now I would say that it would be in good conscience for the Developer Shariff El Gamal to consider the circumstances and think about moving some where else. The local community board in lower Manhattan approved two separate votes to go ahead with the Park51 project and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also gave the go ahead amid National criticism.

I think that this has been more of a wedge issue for Republicans to get more votes during this past election. If the people in Manhattan approved the project by a democratic vote twice why are people like Florida's Governor elect Rick Scott calling it"Obama Mosque". Sources close to Developer Shariff El Gamal describe him more as a aspiring Donald Trump rather then a radical Muslim.

It has just been made public that Shariff El Gamal has applied for a five million dollar grant to help build the Cultural center in Lower Manhattan. The Grant is administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11. So not only is this Mosque / Cultural Center being built near Ground Zero it's also using 9/11 funds to be built.

Now that you know this new information how do you feel?

Charles Rangel is Found to have violated House ethics rules

Charles Rangle was found guilty of 11 ethics violations today by a House Panel , the ruling said that the violations have brought dishonor to the House of Representatives. On Monday Charles walked out of the House Ethics committee hearing declaring he could not afford a attorney to represent him. Charles said due to all of the attorney fees he has been paying over the last two years to defend himself against these ethics charges he no longer can afford an attorney he told the committee. The Ethics Committee took a total of four hours to conclude that Charles was guilty of 12 of the 13 counts against him.

These accusations started with a news report about Charles Rangle accepting four rent stabilized apartments below cost over two years ago. They also included a $60,000 accounting error on property he owns in the Dominican Republic among other things. In Charles's defense about the accounting error he said that he does not speak Spanish well so that's what created the the misunderstanding. I mean, that could happen right ? :) The Committee did clear him of trying to to build a school in his name because the donations to build the school could of been considered a gift.

The Problem I have with Charles Rangle is that he was the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. One of the most powerful Committees in all of Congress. Charles out of everyone should of known the rules and followed them to lead by example. Instead he claims he does not understand Spanish? Come on, Charles Rangle is a legend in New York specifically Harlem and for him to make these claims of a language barrier and so on is embarrassing. I have always liked Charles Rangle and maybe I don't know the entire story, but I expect more from a man of his stature.

Ny Times - Charles Rangle is found to Violated House Ethics Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/nyregion/17rangel.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

The price of Cigarettes goes to $11.00 dollars a pack in New York.

The price of cigarettes are going to be at least $11.00 a pack in New York beginning July 1st. The New York state Legislature just passed a resolution adding additional $1.60 to the price of cigarettes which will bring the total amount of taxes to $6.85 a pack. New York leads the way with the most taxes on cigarettes in the entire country by far. The additional $1.60 is expected to raise an additional $290 million dollars to help combat the 9.2 Billion dollar short fall New York State is facing with its budget. The state who comes in second with the highest cigarette taxes is Rhode Island with $3.46 a pack. According to the American Heart Association this additional tax is going to make at least 100,000 people quit smoking in New York. Smokers seem to be a fast growing minority and the new tax is helping them quit at a faster rate and creating more revenue for the state, this seems to be a win win for New Yorkers. Do you think there should be a limit or a cap on the amount you can keep on taxing Cigarettes? Are smokers being taking advantage of why don’t they add these additional taxes on fast food and the like? I don’t smoke for all the obvious reasons but it does seem that smokers are easy targets for tax hikes.

NY Daily news - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/06/22/2010-06-22_nail_in_coffin_legislature_oks_raising_cig_tax_160_to_us_high_435_a_pack.html#ixzz0raaf1Ptg