Press Release: Statements from Governor David A. Paterson and Commissioner Carol Ash on Parks Budget Cuts

February 19, 2010

Governor's Office: Marissa Shorenstein
518.474.8418
OPRHP: Eileen Larrabee, Dan Keefe
518.486.1868

Statements from Governor David A. Paterson and Commissioner Carol Ash on Parks Budget Cuts

The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) today put forward a recommended list of closures and service reductions in order to achieve its 2010-11 agency savings target and help address the State's historic fiscal difficulties.

Governor David A. Paterson issued the following statement:

"New York faces an historic fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It has demanded many difficult but necessary decisions to help ensure the fiscal integrity of our State. The unfortunate reality of closing an $8.2 billion deficit is that there is less money available for many worthy services and programs. In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and social services, no area of State spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions. We cannot mortgage our State's financial future through further gimmicks or avoidance behavior. Spending cuts, however difficult, are needed in order to put New York on the road to fiscal recovery. Going forward through the budget process, I look forward to a productive dialogue with the Legislature on parks and historic sites, as well as other issues."

OPRHP Commissioner Carol Ash issued the following statement:

"The 2010-11 Executive Budget included reductions to every area of State spending. As such, the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation has today put forward proposed closures and service reductions to meet its agency savings target. These actions were not recommended lightly, but they are necessary to address our State's extraordinary fiscal difficulties."

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A fact sheet on the proposed closures and service reductions is included below:

The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) today put forward a list of closures and service reductions in order to achieve its proposed 2010-11 agency savings target and help address the State's historic fiscal difficulties. As part of a comprehensive plan to close an $8.2 billion deficit, the 2010-11 Executive Budget included necessary cost reductions to each executive State agency, as well as cuts to education, health care, social services, and every other area of State spending.

OPRHP's plan includes the closure of 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and service reductions at 23 parks and 1 historic site.

The plan also assumes $4 million in park and historic site fee increases that will be identified at a later date, and the use of $5 million in funds from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to finance OPRHP operations. These two actions were part of the 21-day amendments to the Executive Budget and are intended to reduce the number of parks and historic sites subject to closures and service reductions.

Specific recommended closures and service reductions are detailed below:

Long Island

• Brookhaven State Park (Suffolk)--Close Park
• Bethpage State Park (Suffolk)--Eliminate Winter Sports; Reduce picnic area and polo field
• Caleb Smith State Park Preserve (Suffolk)--Close Park
• Cold Spring Harbor State Park (Suffolk)--Close Park
• Connetquot River State Park (Suffolk)--Close Weekdays
• Heckscher State Park (Suffolk)--Close Swimming Pool
• Jones Beach State Park (Nassau)--Close West Swimming Pool; Eliminate July 4th fireworks
• Montauk Downs State Park (Suffolk)--Close Swimming Pool
• Nissequogue River State Park (Suffolk)--Close Park
• Orient Beach State Park (Suffolk)--Close Park
• Trail View State Park (Suffolk)--Close Park

New York City Region

• Bayswater Point State Park (Queens)--Close Park
• Riverbank State Park (New York)--Reduce Operating Hours; Close Outdoor Swimming Pool; Eliminate Seniors Classes, and Community/Cultural Events

Palisades Region

• Fort Montgomery Historic Site (Orange)--Close Historic Site
• Harriman SP– Anthony Wayne (Orange)--Close Park Area
• Harriman SP – Group Camps (Orange)--Reduce Maintenance
• High Tor State Park (Rockland)--Close Pool
• Knox Headquarters Historic Site (Orange)--Close Historic Site
• New Windsor Cantonment SHS (Orange)-- Close Historic Site
• Schunnemunk State Park (Orange)-- Close Park
• Stony Point State Historic Site (Orange)--Close Historic Site
• Tallman Mountain State Park (Rockland)--Close Pool

Taconic Region

• Donald J. Trump State Park (Westchester)--Close Park
• FDR (Roosevelt) State Park (Westchester)--Reduce Swimming Pool Season
• Hudson Highlands State Park (Putnam)--Close Arden Point Area
• James Baird State Park (Dutchess)--Reduce Golf Course Season
• Mills Norrie State Park (Dutchess)--Reduce Golf Course Season
• Olana State Historic Site (Columbia)--Close 2 Days per Week
• Philipse Manor Hall Historic Site (Westchester)--Close Historic Site
• Rockefeller State Park Preserve (Westchester)--Eliminate Interpretive Programs
• Taconic Outdoor Education Center (Putnam)--Eliminate Interpretive Programs
• Taconic State Park – Rudd Pond (Dutchess)--Close Rudd Pond Area
• Wonder Lake State Park (Putnam)--Close Park

Saratoga-Capital Region

• Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site (Rensselaer)--Close Historic Site
• Hudson River Islands State Park (Rensselaer)--Close Park
• John Boyd Thacher State Park (Albany)--Close Park
• John Brown Farm Historic Site (Essex)--Close Historic Site
• Johnson Hall State Historic Site (Fulton)--Close Historic Site
• Max V. Shaul State Park (Schoharie)--Close Park
• Schodack Island State Park (Rensselaer)--Close Park
• Schoharie Crossing Historic Site (Montgomery)--Close Historic Site
• Schuyler Mansion Historic Site (Albany)--Close Historic Site

Central Region

• Chittenango Falls State Park (Madison)--Close Park
• Clark Reservation State Park (Onondaga)--Close Park
• Fort Ontario State Historic Site (Oswego)--Close Historic Site
• Helen McNitt State Park (Madison)--Close Park
• Herkimer Home Historic Site (Herkimer)--Close Historic Site
• Hunts Pond State Park (Chenango)--Close Park
• Oquaga Creek State Park (Broome)--Close Park
• Old Erie Canal State Park (Onondaga)--Close Park
• Oriskany Battlefield/Steuben SHS (Oneida)--Close Historic Site
• Pixley Falls State Park (Oneida)--Close Park
• Robert Riddell State Park (Delaware)--Close Park
• Selkirk Shores State Park (Oswego)--Close Public Swimming Beach

Finger Lakes Region

• Beechwood State Park (Wayne)--Close Park
• Bonavista State Park (Seneca)--Close Park
• Chimney Bluffs State Park (Wayne)--Close Park
• Newtown Battlefield State Park (Chemung)--Close Park
• Springbrook Greens State Park (Cayuga)--Close Park
• Two Rivers State Park (Tioga)--Close Park
• Buttermilk Falls State Park (Tompkins)--Close Public Swimming Area
• Seneca Lake State Park (Seneca)--Close Lake Swimming Beach
• Stony Brook State Park (Steuben)--Close Public Swimming Area

Thousand Islands Region

• Canoe Island State Park (Jefferson)--Close Park
• Cedar Island State Park (Jefferson)--Close Park
• Eel Weir State Park (St. Lawrence)--Close Park
• Keewaydin State Park (Jefferson)--Close Park
• Macomb Reservation State Park (Clinton)--Close Park
• Mary Island State Park (Jefferson)--Close Park
• Point Au Roche State Park (Clinton)--Close Park
• Sackets Harbor State Historic Site (Jefferson)--Close Historic Site

Genesee Region

• Hamlin Beach State Park (Monroe)--Close Swimming Beach 3 Days per Week
• Oak Orchard State Marine Park (Orleans)--Close Park
• Regionwide Multiple Eliminate Camper Recreation Program

Niagara Region

• Joseph Davis State Park (Niagara)--Close Park
• Knox Farm State Park (Erie)--Close Park
• Wilson-Tuscarora State Park (Niagara)--Close Park
• Woodlawn Beach State Park (Erie)-- Close Park
• Regionwide--Reduce interpretive programs

Allegany Region

• Allegany State Park (Cattaraugus)--Close Quaker Area Swim Beach; Close Quaker Cabins Area on December 1st; Eliminate Winter Trails Maintenance; Reduce Recreation Programs
• Long Point State Park (Chautauqua)--Close Park

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Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

this collection of links I have copied and pasted here from Project Censored

Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

• #1. Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation
• # 2 Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA
• # 3 InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business
• # 4 ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?
• # 5 Seizing War Protesters’ Assets
• # 6 The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
• # 7 Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking
• # 8 Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly
• #9 Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify
• # 10 APA Complicit in CIA Torture
• # 11 El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror
• # 12 Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind
• # 13 Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq
• # 14 Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste
• # 15 Worldwide Slavery
• # 16 Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights
• # 17 UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights
• # 18 Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers
• # 19 Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction
• # 20 Marijuana Arrests Set New Record
• # 21 NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option
• # 22 CARE Rejects US Food Aid
• # 23 FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs
• # 24 Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror
• # 25 Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer

post-election

with 90,548 votes, Cynthia McKinney and the Green Party received .06% of the votes cast for president of the united states.

RORY endorses....

Elector for President and Vice President:

Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente (Green)

Justice of the Supreme Court 10th Judicial District:

Hector D LaSalle (Democratic)

Kenneth A Davis (Republican)

None (Two Unacceptable Choices)

None (Only one "choice" available)

County Court Judge:

None (Only one "choice" available)

None (Only one "choice" available)

None (Only one "choice" available)

Family Court Judge:

None (Only one "choice" available)

Representative in Congess (1st District):

Timothy H Bishop (Democratic)

State Senator (1st District):

None (Only one "choice" available)

Member of Assembly (2nd District):

William M Pitcher (Democratic)

Town Justice:

Andrea H Schiavoni (Democratic)

Councilman:

Sally G Pope (Democratic)

October 15th, 2008

Kevin, Dad, and I went to the rally in Hempstead to open the presidential debate to the four other major presidential candidates (Cynthia McKinney – Green & Ralph Nader – Independent being two examples).  We, along with a crowd of at least 250 bodies, pushed our ways toward the gates to Hofstra University.  We were met by police officers in uniform, police officers in riot gear, and police officers on horses.  All forces were used against us in a struggle to lead the protesters back onto the sidewalk.  We complied.  I, being second in line in the crowd behind soldiers (IVAW – Iraq Veterans Against the War), was one of the last civilians to get onto the sidewalk.  We stood there for at least thirty seconds in front of a wall of riot gear cops and horses being ridden by animals.  From the inside realm of the police forces, two cops came out of the wall, grabbed the protester in front of me, and dragged him across the road into the darkness.  We screamed and yelled for justice and an explanation for his removal.  They came again from inside.  This time there were many police and they grabbed two other protesters right next to me and two IVAW soldiers grabbed the protesters to pull them back and all six or so of them fell to the pavement as the crowd grew wild and the horses spun.  As one horse directly in front of me, I panicked for my own safety and attempted to step back without releasing my focus from the horse’s actions.  Then I looked down in front of me and saw the soldier lying on the ground.  The horse was stomping and I then saw his back left hoof rise to buttocks level (of the horse) and stamp straight down on the soldiers temple parallel to the curb.  He bled from his forehead and from his eye.  I never saw him move up or over or even breathe on his own before I had to leave for my own safety.

 

We didn’t make the news.

 

 

And then I think about all the violence I have seen.  Mostly this occurs with humans whether it is a violent incident of a human with a plant, animal, insect, or other instigator/human.  I think about that incident at the protest and at the rallies in Denver at the national convention where law enforcement officers threw pedestrians to the pavement.  I think about [personal introspective recollection I'd care not to share with the internet].  I think about this war my country is fighting in the middle east and of all the sectarian violence that occurs in that region “independent” of us (even though we all know the United States unjustifiably funds Israel in its occupation of Palestine).  These are all examples of violence with humans against humans.  These are all examples of violence in my lifetime.  I think of that nirvana; I think of that harmony yet to be had on my individual level and wonder, is it possible?  Is it possible for a body to see the violence and not scream?  Is it possible for a body to see the violence and not cry?  Is it possible for a body to see the violence and be?

Cynthia McKinney for President 2008

Campaign Platform

Southampton Town Demographics

In Southampton Town of Suffolk County on Long Island, New York…

 

The most popular age group to belong to (16.9% of the population) is of 35 to 44 years.

98.3% of us are white.

61 of us are Asian Chinese,

39 of us are Japanese.

38 of us are Korean.

38 of us are Vietnamese.

25 of us are Guamanian or Chamorro.

5 of us are native Hawaiian.

4 of us are Samoan.

1.7% of us belong to two or more races.

96.2% of us live in a household.

20% of us have a spouse yet 25.2% of us have a child.

1,289 (or 2.4%) of us are institutionalized.

2.45 people is the average household size.

2.99 people is the average family size.

40% of our housing units are vacant.

13.7% of us over the age of 25 never graduated high school.

57.4% of us over the age of 25 attend university of some sort.

25.5% of us over the age of 15 never married.

8.7% of us over the age of 15 are divorced (5.2% of them being females).

14.1% of us are veterans,

58.7% of us live in the same house as we did five years ago.

63 of us were born in Africa.

14.3% of us speak a language other than English at home.

22% of us have Irish heritage (12,049 people).

18.4% of us have Italian heritage.

17.7% of us have German heritage.

11.2% of us have English heritage.

0.3% of us have West Indian or Portuguese heritage.

0.2% of us have Arabic heritage.

0.1% of us have Slovak heritage (67 people).

19.1% of workers carpooled, walked, used public transportation, or took advantage of other means to commute.

20.1% of workers are in Educational, health and social services.

1.3% of workers are in Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining.

6.5% of households make less than $10,000 a year.

19.5% of households make between $50,000 and $74,999 a year.

5.2% of households make $200,000 or more a year.

$53,887 a year is the median household income.

$47,167 a year is the median earnings of a male full-time, year-round worker.

$32,054 a year is the median earnings of a female full-time, year-round worker.

15.1% of our structures were built in 1939 or earlier.

19% of our structures were built between 1940 and 1959.

2.9% of our structures were built within the last year.

380 (or 1.1%) of structures have only one room.

14,630 (or 40.9%) of structures have 5 or 6 rooms.

5.1% of us have no vehicles.

17.1% of us have 3 or more vehicles.

147 of us with a home have no telephone service.

68 of us with a home are lacking complete kitchen facilities.

11.2% of renters do not pay rent.

$938 is the median rental cost.

 

 

 

 

 Full Suffolk County Demographics