Cuomo is losing his luster fast. He's just another wealthy, totally out of touch politician (Democrat but some Republicans are no better) who thinks he knows what is best for the rest of us. Just look at the states, counties and other municipalities that are run by Democrats. Unsustainable pension and labor costs, oppressive taxes (NY, CA, Chicago to name a few) and ridiculously liberal gov't entitlement mandates. I feel for people who are trying to survive on minimum wage today. It's impossible because it's just too expensive to live here. I earned minimum wage years ago and it was tough then but now it's virtually impossible. It's better to be on assistance because if you work minimum wage you cannot get any other help so it's a vicious cycle. Good decent people who want to work but those who can only earn minimum wage at first have no chance. Transportation, housing, food etc costs are through the roof. Unfortunately the answer is not raising the minimum wage. It's helping the working poor where and when they most need it, instead of penalizing them for working! It's time for government to tighten it's belt the way the most people are forced to to today. Americans have experienced their own sequester for years. The government and the so called leaders of this state and country haven't felt the pain yet. It's about time they did. And let's vote them out of office next time around too. View Comment

I can't tell you the last time I clipped a coupon or used a circular. It's all available on the Internet via smartphones, tablets etc. The Express and everything in it is garbage and a waste of paper and ink. View Comment

Posting pins on a map is fine, adding the names and addresses of law-abiding citizens was nothing more than a ploy to get some desperately needed attention for a failing paper. The Journal News is a shadow of the semi-local paper it once was. It takes about 3 seconds to read and most of the news they print is available on the internet for free. Who reads the JN anymore anyway and why would anyone pay for it? Now if only they would stop dropping that other piece of garbage, The Express, at the bottom of my driveway. View Comment

is this a joke? How can Mr Jenkins keep a straight face and say that the county has degraded and property taxes and other county fees have gone up etc? He must be thinking about WC under Andy Spano and Bill Ryan's tenure. Ken Jenkins and some members of the Democrat party in Westchester have done nothing but try and obstruct any changes to the tax and spend policies that, under Andy Spano and Bill Ryan, led us to deficits and the need to make cuts to begin with. They left Rob Astorino with a huge mess to clean up and he is doing fine job under the circumstances. I support the re-election of Rob Astorino because if Ken Jenkins gets elected I will have to sell my home before my taxes go up again. That is IF I can even sell my home. View Comment

Mamaroneck's Carly Rose is amazing and deserves to win. I just have one question...why do they keep saying she is from Westchester, NY as if it is a town? They introduced the Mayor last night as the "mayor of Westchester"!!! View Comment

When my father was suddenly stricken with a massive brain hemorrhage, he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where he received the highest quality of care around the clock. He had no chance of survival, but the team did everything they could to keep him comfortable and pain free and went out of their way to treat our family with compassion and kindness. We were allowed to be with him every minute until he passed away peacefully. We need this medical center to continue to grow and improve it's quality of care. It's vital to our communities. View Comment

Really? What part of the budget has already been legally passed doesn't Mr Jenkins understand? Perhaps he should ask his two Democrat colleagues. I am sure they can enlighten him. Mr Jenkin's, please move on and get back to working with your colleagues on both sides, to help Westchester's economy grow to get people back to work and reduce the tax burden on our communities. Rob Astorino has been the best thing for Westchester County in a very long time (remember Andy Spano?). View Comment

Kudos to Legislators Kaplowitz and Perez for having the guts to stand up to Ken Jenkins and the rest of the Westchester tax and spend Democrats and support Rob Astorino's budget. Jenkins has never seen a tax increase he didn't like and support with his vote and if anyone has forgotten the legacy of the Spano and Jenkins years, just look at your county tax bill. View Comment

It's always so interesting to me that Democrats on the County Board of Legislators are always saying "The most important thing is for us to find ways to work together," but what they really mean is do it their way. Westchester residents need to remember that it was the Democrats led by Andy Spano, Ryan and Jenkins et al that got us into this mess by spending and taxing more every year and giving Westchester County the honor of being the highest taxed county in the U.S. Thank goodness for people like Linda Puglisi and Rob Astorino, who are on different political sides of the aisle, but are both fiscally intelligent and respectful of the taxpayers they represent. But, I still can't wait to sell my home and get out of NY. I can't afford to live here anymore. View Comment

Don't you just love the fact that right after the incident these boys went outside to play football! Kids are really the greatest! Congratulations to Daniel for keeping his head and taking charge. Daniel Cunningham for President anyone?!!!! View Comment

What a great way to get kids and adults exercising!!! I hope they have a great turnout and lots of sunshine! View Comment

I think it's great that more people are cycling for exercise and even as a primary means of transportation. With that in mind, it's time for bicycle laws to change. Cyclists need to follow the same rules of the road as an automobile, just as they do in Europe. They stop at red lights, stop signs, pedestrians, right of way etc. No special rules. They are a vehicle! We will probably see more and more bikes in downtown areas in the future as well, so it's time for the laws in the US regarding bicycles and bike safety being applied as they are in countries where bicycles are a common mode of transportation in daily life. View Comment

Really...all that just because some of us believe that it's fundamentally wrong to hold private interviews to select a candidate for an elected position? I'm not in favor of spending $10k for an election, just hold the interviews in full view of the public. Discuss personal issues in private, the rest open for the public and media to cover. Period, end of story. There are no conspiracy theories being considered here. This board could use a dose of divergent views and differing opinions, and I don't believe it would render them intransigent and ineffective. This isn't Congress. On the contrary. It would be much more constructive and representative of the community at large and a good deal more refreshing. . View Comment

Board members are elected by the community therefore this process should be open to the public, period. This board wants to control the process in order to appoint someone who will vote along their "party" line, and an open process would make that more difficult to achieve. It always seemed suspect to me that Mr. Oricchio waited to resign until after the budget/elections were held. This board has one objective, to push forward their agenda whether or not it represents the wishes of the Hen Hud community at large or not. View Comment

Hilarious! They should wrap it in brown paper when it's signed out!!!!! View Comment

I don't think Ms Glenza has any agenda. I think she reports the news based on the information she is given. It's not her job to ask why the Board has spent like drunken sailors. Perhaps they are not as forthcoming or transparent as Croton when it comes to reporting tax increases. What is even more ridiculous is that without much public knowledge this Board voted to override the tax cap without any public input. That's their idea of Democracy. Had I been aware of any of these facts I would have voted to replace very single one of them. Instead I will continue researching how we can dissolve the Village. Regardless, your request for an answer to what the exact increase will be is the correct one and must be directed to the Village Mayor and Board. I for one expect an answer. View Comment

The Village of Buchanan does not need to exist. We don't need a separate sanitation dept or a Mayor, Board of Trustees, Village employees or Police dept with new vehicles etc. We have the Town of Cortlandt and it's services along with the State and County police that patrol in Buchanan now! I would really like to see the village dissolved and incorporated into the town of Cortlandt. It's time to prepare for the inevitable closing of Indian Point and the loss of that annual revenue. View Comment

I now have to add an additional 30 minutes to my commute due to the backup on Rte's 9 and 9A - what a horror. It takes 30-45 minutes to go the 6-8 miles to the entrance of the Taconic on 9A. There has got to be a better way. As usual no one really thought this through and the commuters/consumers are suffering both in terms of additional gasoline costs and time lost. Schools are closed this week...i cannot imagine what's going to happen next Monday. Maybe I'll take a vacation day and just stay home. View Comment

Your response, albeit thoughtful, is one that would be expected from someone who works on the education side. You may not be a teacher but you are embedded in the culture. I have no doubt that there are many teachers and affiliated staff that put in long hours and maybe even weekends, but so do many employed in the private sector and, contrary to what you may think, most employees of publicly traded companies don't get stock options or earn much higher salaries. They also pay a substantial percentage of their salary for healthcare, they don't get pensions,and most can't retire before they are 70, plus they do not have job security and can lose their jobs at any time for any reason. It happens every day across the country. All that being said, I too value the importance of investing in public education. My entire middle class family are products of public education and we consider ourselves successful. We worked very hard to earn our success. Today, the U.S. spends more per child on public education than ever before, yet our performance is below that of many countries around the world. That may be the reason that those who can afford to send their children to private schools do so. If we really care about pubic education being the great equalizer, then we best take a good hard look at where all that taxpayer money is going, how it's being spent, and why it has yet to make that much of a difference to those middle and lower income families. I certainly wish it would. would. View Comment

The problem in a nutshell is that there are 5 different unions representing HH employees - "labor accounts for a majority of the district's budget". If laying off 15 teachers saves the $ 2.6 million then lay them off. That's what corporate America does every day. Pepsi and IBM have just had layoffs, and workers in the private sector deal with layoffs and job uncertainty every day. They don't have pensions and free healthcare and tenure to protect their jobs, and they work far more hours than teachers. Layoffs are never good, but it's the reality that most Americans in the private sector have dealt with for years. HH can begin cutting from the top down. Start with our overpaid Superintendent, and do we really need a district spokesperson? Isn't that something our Superintendent can handle? The board has now begun posturing that the tax cap is the problem. It has become the mantra of every school district. The unions will offer little to no concessions and the school boards are too afraid to take a hard line, so they back down and the community falls in line, overrides the tax cap, taxes go up and nothing changes. View Comment