1972-04-06

              F4RMINGDM-AN
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER O
F * a v t » G0 » f MINGDALE
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AREA, BETHPAGE, MELVILLE
A MEMBER OF THE OBSERVER/ TRIBUNE GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS
VOL. 9 No. 33 accond Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735 • Published by THE OBSERVER, INC., Box 146, Farmingdale, N. Y. Thursday, April 6 1 9 72
Village Supports
Lynbrook's Suit
The Village of Lynbrook has filed suit against the
State of New York charging " discriminatory and
unconstitutional action against villages, towns and
counties" in its revenue sharing formula. According to
village clerk James McKenna, the Village of Far­mingdale
would support the suit of Lynbrook.
TIP FROM THE TOP: Joseph Margiotta. Nassau County Republican leader, gives Stuart Levine
some pointers for his campaign in the 10th Assembly District. Looking on are the first two student
volunteers for Levine's campaign. Left to right: Joseph Margiotta, Stuart Levine, Ira Bernstein and
Paul Astrow. Stuart R. Levine of Bethpage has been officially nominated by the Nassau County
Republican Committee as its candidate for the State Assembly in the 10th Assembly District. The
district mcludes all or parts of Plain view, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Syosset
and Wyandanch.
Will Fred Charnomas Be the
Opponent of Angelo Roncallo?
All of a sudden 29 year old Fred
Chernomas' chances of being the
Democrat's candidate for U. S.
Congress in the new Third
Congressional District, spanning
both Nassau and Suffolk Coun­ties,
seem bright. Which should
make the Republican nominee
Angelo Roncallo also happy.
Until Monday it was figured
that Roncalio's opponent would
either be City of Glen Cove
Supervisor Andrew DiPaola or
Town of Huntington Supervisor
Jerome Ambro, both members in
good standing of the regular
Democratic organization of their
respective counties, and proven
Sorry: Our Price
Is Going Up Too
The newstand price for the
Farmingdale Observer will be
increased. Must be increased
because of circumstances
beyond our control, as the
saying goes. For many years
the newsstand price has
remained at 10 cents per copy.
Inflation has finally caught up
with us, too. Phase II of the
new economic policy is not
working for us and we ask our
readers' understanding for
this really distasteful action
taken very reluctantly.
With our issue of April 19 the
newsstand price will be 15
cents per copy. The sub­scription
rates remain the
same.
formidable vote- getters. While
GOP candidate Roncallo has the
numerical edge in registrations,
a race against either DiPaola or
Ambro would not have been a
walk for him.
Now DiPaola and Ambro ap­parently
have dropped out of the
race for the Democratic
nomination, after an Alphonse
and Gaston act in which each
held the door open for the other.
And Fred Chernomas, who
recently declared his intention to
fight for the Democratic
nomination, finds himself now
the only declared candidate.
More than that: In an interview
with the OBSERVER two weeks
ago, he acknowledged the odds
against his receiving the
nomination, expecting either
DiPaola or Ambro to get the
party designation. Chernomas
was all ready to go into a primary
fight which now might not be
necessary if the Democratic
organizations in Nassau and
Suffolk cannot come up with a
compromise candidate of the
stature of DiPaola or Ambro.
Chernomas, physics teacher at
the State University in Far­mingdale
who grew up in
Massapequa and now lives in
Plainview, does not see it that
way, of course. He considers
himself the candidate of the little
people, the down- trodden
masses, which he thinks will give
him the numbers he needs to win.
In line with this approach he
named his organization the
Committee for Full Employment,
and launched his campaign
Monday night with a $ 1 per plate
hamburger " dinner" at the
Adventurers Inn in East Far­mingdale.
In his announcement speech he
took issue with both the con­servatives
and liberals, whom he
chided for seemingly to agree on
the false premise Chat there is not
enough prosperity to go around.
As Chernomas sees it, there is
plenty of prosperity to go around
and in his campaign he will ad­dress
himself to the problem of
making the pie of prosperity
grow, with bigger pieces for
everyone.
The OBSERVER spoke to
Joseph M. Vitelli, village clerk of
Lynbrook. " We filed our suit last
month at Brooklyn Federal
Court," he confirmed. " We are
soliciting the help of every village
mayor in the state to join us in
this action."
What Lynbrook is objecting to
is the present formula in the
distribution of funds through
revenue sharing. " Revenue
sharing funds come solely out of
the personal income tax," Vitelli
said. " Only 18 per cent of the
personal income tax is set aside
for revenue sharing. 9 per cent -
or half - is distribute** among all
municipalities, such as cities,
counties, towns and villages. The
other 9 per cent go solely to the
cities. We claim in our suit that
this is unconstitutional."
" We know that the big cities
have big problems," Vitelli
argued, " but they can not be
solved at our expense. We have
our problems too."
According to Vitelli, only two
factors should play a role in
determining the amount of state
aid: population and services
rendered. " Except for an in­cinerator
plant, the village of
Lynbrook is offering the same
services the cities offer," he said.
Vitelli gave a few examples in
pointing out the inconsistencies in
the present revenue sharing
formula: Lynbrook has a
population of 24,000 and receives
$ 120,000 in annual state aid.
Neighboring Glen Cove, a city,
has also a population of 24,000 but
receives $ 900,000 annually in
state aid. The Village of Far­mingdale
( pop. 9,000) is receiving
$ 52,000 in state aid.
" There is a city in upstate New
York called Sherrell. It has a
total population of 2,900 but
receives $ 100,000 a year in state
aid." Vitelli said.
The village of Massapequa
Park ( population: 21,000 - state
aid: $ 130,000) is the first one to
join Lynbrook as party plaintiffs.
" We are very pleased about this
first indication of support,"
Vitelli said, " and we are con­fident
that many more villages
will join us in our suit."
Murder Victim
Identified as
Philip Friedman
A young man, identified by the
police as Philip Friedman, 25, of
Vanderbuilt Avenue, Dix Hills,
was found shot to death Wed­nesday
night in front of 54
Washington Street in Far­mingdale.
According to a
spokesman of the 8th precinct,
there is yet no clue as to the killer
or to the motive of the slaying.
The young man was
pronounced dead on arrival at
Mid Island Hospital in Bethpage.
Police said he had been shot three
times in the head and the chest
with .38 calibre bullets, giving
rise to the speculation that the
killing may have been a planned
rubout. But the possiblity of
robbery has not been dismissed
yet.
Ptl. Robert Wagman, who
heard the shots, discovered the
body of Friedman slumped over
on the ground. He spotted a figure
fleeing on foot across a parking
lot near the Lido Diner on Conklin
Street. He gave chase but had to
take cover as the man he pursued
turned around and fired at the
officer. The fleeing man was
described as stocky, 40- 45 years
of age and wearing a plaid three-quarter
length jacket.
Village Board Wants 2* More
After wrestling with the fiscal
problems for two months, and
analyzing the various ap­propriation
requests with a sharp
pencil, the Farmingdale village
board has come up with the
answer: Taxes will have to be
raised 2 cents per $ 100 assessed
valuation, amounting to ap­proximately
$ 1.30 per year on a
house assessed at $ 6,500.
The tax rate in the village
therefore will be raised to $ 2.77
for the fiscal year 1972 73.
Figured yet another way, this
amounts to an increase of seven
tenths of one per cent.
Before tackling the budget, the
board of trustees had put all
department heads on notice that
only the most essential ox
penditures would be approved.
But even before the process of
sifting, shifting and analyzing
began, two facts had to be
recognized as unchangeable - an
increase in salaries for village
employees of 5.5 per cents in
accordance with their contract,
and the posted increase by the
Town of Oyster Bay in in­cinerator
charges which in turn
caused a rather substantial in­crease
in the village's contract
with Monbro Sanitation service.
The proposed budget, to be
presented at a public hearing
next Monday night at 8.00 p. m. at
village hall, now lists anticipated
expenditures of $ 1,036,704, of
which $ 519,943 is covered by
anticipated revenue and surplus
application. This leaves $ 516,761
to be raised by taxation. In
contrast, the 1971 72 budget was
pegged at $ 924,141.
Within the framework of the
proposed budget provisions will
be made to equip the Far­mingdale
Fire Department with
a " home alert" system. This will
eliminate the use of sirens and
horns during the night, from 10
p. m. to 6 a. m., except in major
emergencies.
Also scheduled for the coming
fiscal year are the installation of
a catch basin on the northern part
of Maple Street to control
recurrent flood conditions, and
tree pruning, on Duane Street
between Fulton Street and
Clinton Avenue.