Bethpage-Tribune_1969-03-20

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X Serving Bethpage - Plainview - Island Trees - Plainedge - Seoford
Vol. 3 No. 21 Thursday, March 20, 1969 10< per copy
From
The Publisher's Desk
rffa^biMfc A A.
S S P"^'" The News
Program
A sweeping change in the state's divorce law js pro­posed
in a bill being co-sponsored in the Asstimftiy by
Assemblyman Martin Ginsberg of Plainview.
The bill, which will reach the floor next week, re­solves
the controversy over whether a spouse who has
been held legally responsible for the failure of a'
marriage can bring divorce action.
Under present law, Assemblyman Ginsberg said, "it
is uncertain as to whether either one or both of the
parties to a separation action would be able to avail
himself of this ground for divorce after the two year
waiting period. My bill amendment would limit this
ground to be used only by the successful plaintiff in the
previous separation action and prohibit its use by the
unsuccessful defendant in the previous separation
action." , _ ...
"It would be grossly unfair", the Republican
lawmaker said, "and certainly not the intent of the
legislature to permit the unsucessful defendant in the
separation action to now benefit by his own wrong­doing,
by permitting him to be the plaintiff in a divorce
action after the two year waiting period. This kind of
permissiveness is like allowing a man to shoot his wife
and collect her insurance."
"I predicted when the original divorce reform bill
was passed in 1966 that this ambiguity would become a
serious problem," Mr. Ginsberg declared. "I tried to
amend it buy my proposal did not pass. This bill brings
the law into line with what I maintain was the original
legislative intent of the new law."
One kind of ambiguous situation which the bill would
correct, the Assemblyman said, is the divorce action
instituted by comedian Jackie Gleason, who sought a
divorce on the grounds that he and his wife had been
separated for fifteen years. The separation decree had
been obtained by Mrs. Gleason on grounds of abandon­ment.
She apparently had no intention of ever divor­cing
her husband, thus entitling her to at least one third
Since the 1966 law was enacted, Assemblyman
Ginsberg said, judges in different areas have ruled dif­ferently
on rights of the "wrongdoer" in matrimonial
actions. "This plays havoc with our divorce law," he
said, "and if we allow it to continue, many divorces
currently being granted will be invalid."
Oyster Bay Town Board
Majority Leader Edmund A.
Ocker today announced that the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development has ap­proved
a senior citizens and low
income housing program in
Oyster Bay town.
Ocker explained that the grant
covers construction costs of
$1,692,822 which clears the way
lor construction of 48 colonial,
garden apartment units for
senior citizens and48 similar two-story
dwellings for low income
tenants to be built in Oyster Bay
hamlet on Lexington Avenue and
Oyster Bay-Glen Cove Road.
Frank J. Swit, Oyster Bay
Housing Authority chairman,
said construction is expected to
start within a month.
Joseph Zito, Jr. of Gle» <2ove
and De Nigris and Maier of
Jericho are the architects.
Belhune Construction Company
of Locust Valley will handle the
general construction.
Urge Senior Citizens
To Press For
Higher Exemptions
Oyster Bay Town Receiver of
Taxes Solomon Newborn today
urged senior citizens to press for
llie pending legislation in­creasing
the exemption on in­come
ceiling for senior citizens
from $3,000 to $4,000 per year. He
explained that at present there is
a $3,000 limitation on the ex­emption
which is equal to 50
percent of the assessed value of
the properly used as the legal
residence of the taxpayer-owner.
Newborn said that senior
citizens who are interested in thisr
legislation should write to their
respective Slate Senators and As­semblymen.
The Senate Bill is
SB408 and the Assembly Bill is
AB9G0. Assembly Bill AB283 is
aimed at permitting the exemp­tion
to apply to real estate owned
by (he husband and wife, if either
is sixty-five or older.
Those interested should check
willi the Nassau County Depart­ment
of Assessment for specific
qualifications Tor eligibility,
Newborn said.
TALKS TAX TAKE-Hempstead Town Presiding
Supervisor Ralph G. Caso (center), guestspeaker a t*
meeting of the Nassau Village Officials Association
held at the Atlantic Beach Hotel, explains to Freeport
Mayor Robert Sweeney (left), association president,
and Atlantic Beach Mayor Fred Lager his proposal for
the distribution of $10 million in anticipated sales tax
revenue next year to Nassau's towns, cities and
villages. The sales tax yield in 1970 is estimated to be
$10 million more than the $52 million anticipated this
year. Caso's proposal, officially supported by the as­sociation,
recommends that this extra $10 million be
distributed to every municipality in the county at a
rate of $7 per capita using 1965 census figures.
Attending Mid-Island Council Girl Scouts, Inc. Fifth
International Luncheon at the Huntington Town House
and joining over 400 registered adults are, left to right,
Mrs. James Karcher, president of Mid-Island Council;
Mr. Eastman Birkett, 1st Deputy Nassau County
Executive and Aziz Abdullah from Pakistan.
Banks To Close
Good Friday
The commercial banks of
Nassau and Suffolk Counties
which normally provide banking
services on Friday evenings will
not be open for the transaction of
business on Good Friday evening,
April 4lh. In fact, there will be no
business transacted by com­mercial
banks in the two counties
on any evening during Holy Week
except by those who are normally
open on Monday evenings
• throughout the year.
BEAUTIFUL MODERNIZATION -- Oyster Bay
Town Councilman Ralph Diamond, center, dis­cusses
planned modernization of Shell Gasoline
Stations with company representatives Fred E.
Seegers, left, and Maurice B. Sullivan, right, that
was a result of the town's new beautification pro­gram.
Officials said plans are underway to mod­ernize
17 existing stations within the town for
$510,000 and coordinate with town's regional beau­tification
committees to insure consistent effective
maintenance of all SheU Stations within Oyster Bay
Town.