Observer_1989-05-17; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

              Newspaper
Inc Village
School District
Inc Village
School District
"THE GOOD \EIGHBOR NEWSPAPER "
m M M i E
OBSERVER
Sinco 1967 by Mailed Subscription
Exocutivo Offtiets: Soiffort Building, 2787 Long Beach Ro«d, Oceanstde, NY 11572]
Post Office Box A, East Rockaway, NY 11518 (516) 764-2500
Hewlett P oW
The Em( Rockaway Lynbrook
Uthcd weekly for S I 4 . M by II
Poetace Paid at RockTillc Centre,
office*. Send addren chances to The
Obwrver, Box A , East Rocfcaway, N . Y.
;^OUR VOICE IN THE
^4^0MMUNiTY"
re, N X I
« l « 9 M * b p u b -
SecoHd CfaMi
>1 m a i l i n i
•Lynbrook
VOL. 36 NO. 17 Wednesday, May 17,1989
Rep. Norman F. Lent (R-East
Rockaway) introduced
pro-commuter legislation
which would exempt certain
New York State railroads,
including the Long Island
Rail Road (LIRR), from
coverage under the federal
Railway, Labor Act. Once
the bill is enacted, the LIRR
would automatically come
under the jurisdiction of
New York State's Taylor
Act, which prohibits strikes.
The bill was introduced in
Congress by Lent on May
3, 1989.
'*The public consensus
behind this effort has been
snowballing since the LIRR
went out on strike in Jan-uary
1987. For 11 days,
commuters struggled
through snowstorms, miles-long
traffic jams, and over-crowded
busses to get to
their jobs. The frightening
specter of that nightmare
rose again when some LIRR
employees threatened a
secondary boycott in sym-pathy
with the recent Eastern
Airlines strike. Tragically,
it's always the commuter
who suffers. La|)or and man-agement
are represented at
the bargaining table, but no
one is fighting for the
commuter.
"By bringing the LIRR
under the State's Taylor Act,
the negotiating process can
continue to resolve disputes
between labor and manage-ment
~ but without jeopard-izing
mass transit service
with a strike. As a State-run
jB^senger rail line, the MTA
and its subsidiaries have a
responsibility to provide
commuters with reliable,
dependable service. The
Lent Bill will restore the
Stae's rightful authority to
ensure that the public inter-est
is served, and that com-muters
will no longer be held
hostage in a dispute," Rep.
Lent said.
Rep. Lent introduced the
emergency legislation (PL
100-2) that ended the 1987
LIRR strike and restored
rail service for commuters.
The Long Island legislator
serves as Ranking Minority
Member on the Energy and
Commerce Committee
which has jurisdiction over
rail issues.
"Additionally," Lent
noted, "the federal govern-ment's
preemptive labor
jurisdiction over the State-owned
and operated MTA,
the LIRR, and Metro-North
is no longer appropriate or
necessary. This leg^ anach-ronism
must be corrected if
we are to function effectively
in the reality that is today's
New York metro area mass
transit system."
The Lent bill would
remedy the legal quirk which
has kept the LIRR and its
parent company, the Metro-politan
Transit Authority
(MTA), under the federal
Railway Labor Act since the
1920s. The Act was intended
to regulate labor-management
relations on
privately owned and oper-ated
freight rail roads ~ not
the labor relations of state
employees.
Initially, the LIRR was a
private railroad with a
mixed freight/passenger rail
operation. However, it
became State-owned in the
1960s. The LIRR also has
become almost exclusively a
commuter-passenger line.
(Continued on page 12)
Board Trims
Village Tax Increase
EAGLE SCOUT COURT OF HONOR. Nassau County
Executive Thomas S. Gulotta, (right), presented a County
of Nassau Citation to Joseph Carroll, an East Rockaway
resident, in recognition of his Eagle Scout Court of Honor
from Troop #332.
Lent LIRR:
No More Strikes
by Emma Tolmach
The East Rockaway Vil-lage
Board has scaled back
Mayor Irving Shaw's pro-posed
16% Village tax
increase and set the Village
tax rate at $7.18 per $100 of
assessed valuation.
At a public hearing held
for the purpose of adopting
the 1989-90 budget, the
Board announced a more
moderate increase of 9.6%
per year.
Earlier this year. Mayor
Shaw proposed a Village tax
increase of approximately
16%, which would have
resulted (for an average
homeowner with a house
assessed at $5,000) in a tax
increase of approximately
$387 next year.
The final budget approp-riates
$3,654,695 for the next
fiscal year, with a total of
$2,032,697 to be raised by
real property taxes.
At a public hearing held
May 8 at Village Hall, the
Board amended Chapter 203
of the Village Code to permit
the issuance of non-resident
commuter parking stickers
to those living in areas under
the jurisdiction of the Town
of Hempstead within the
East Rockaway postal area.
The law does not extend the
parking privilege to any field
except Field #7, which is
adjacent to the Commuter's
Club on the north side of the
LIRR on Ocean Avenue. A
recent survey indicated that
between 40 and 50 spaces are
available in this location on
a daily basis.
Trustee Anthony Santino
stated that the law was
considered due to the large
number of requests receiv^
for parking pnviieges- With
the large numt>er oi spaces
available, there should be no
adverse effect on the resi-dents
of East Rockaway.
During the regular Board
meeting, Lt. Metten of the
4th Precinct reported that
by Mildred Roemer
Both the HUCKLE-BERRY
FROLIC (June 17)
and a special exhibit in the
Museum will be saluting
George Washington's long
trip to New York in 1789,
as well as the all-important
Bill of Rights" and "We the
People" additions to the U.s.
Constitution.
It took General George
Washington seven days to
travel from his home at Mt.
Vernon to New York City
where he was treated
"royally" before taking the
oath of office on April 20th,
1789... becoming "Mister"
President. His wife Martha
followed days later. In the
Museum there will be; special
exhibit of a speedier means
of transport in 1989,
for the month of April, there
were 6 arrests, including 4
DWI, 1 possession of a
hyperdermic needle, and 1
criminal mischief; 128 mov-ing
violations and 188 park-ing
summonses issued, 20
accidents with 10 injuries,
and 3 major crimes, includ-ing
1 residence burglary, 1
robbery and I assault victim.
Chief Gibson of the Fire
Department reported that
his men responded to 45
rescue calls, 2 mutual aid
rescues, 12 general and 5 still
alarms, and the Chief noted
that the false alarm incidents
would be turned over to the
Nassau County Fire Mar-shall's
office for further
investigation. Supt. Gene
Torborg of the Department
of Public Works stated that
his Department collected
642 tons of garbage and 35
tons of rubbish, along with
56 tons of leaves and 46 tons
of newspapers. In addition,
225 miles of road were
swept. A recent storm causes
the falling of 4 trees, one on
Denton Avenue, 2 at Irving
Place, and one at Garfield
Place. 15 tons of debris was
collected as a result of this
storm.
The Board proclaimed the
following:
• May 14 through 20 as
Nursing Home Week
• June 14 as Flag Day
• The month of May as
American Legion Poppy
Month.
In addition, the Board
took the following action:
1) Authorized the instal-lation
of signs at the Ox-
Bord Development site.
2) Appointed Patricia
Eckhardt Secretary to the
Chairman of the zoning
Board of Appeals.
3) Scheduled a special
meeting for the Board of
Trustees on Wednesday,
May 31.
TTie meeting adjourned at
9:30 PM.
Calling All Artists
Travel:
1789-1989
although some riders still
grumble about it. Steve
Torborg, a model train buff,
has set up a fine Long Island
Railroad historical exhibit
that will remain for the
entire month of June. The
evolution of engines and cars
over the years will make
good conversation for the
dashing commuters.
The museum also has an
original 1906 L.I.R.R. train
schedule and a colorful map
urging the public to use the
trains that are always "warm
in the winter" and "cool in
the summer."
The Washington exhibit,
featuring uniforms of our
local servicemen and honor-ing
Washington is being
arrange by Mary Gipson, co-chairman
of the Grist Mill
Committee.
The newly formed East
Rockaway Board of Trade
is sponsoring a contest for
the residents of the Village
of East Rockaway. The
Board is looking for an
emblem design depicting a
"Nautical Theme" and
invites all East Rockaway
residents, regardless of age,
who have artistic talent to
participate.
The drawing should be on
a sheet of paper no larger
than 8x10 and be sketched
in black and white. All
submitted entries must be
mailed or delivered by May
30th to: The East Rockaway
Board of Trade, % Sweet
Stuff, 270 Atlantic Avenue,
East Rockaway, N.Y. 11518
or the East Rockaway/Lyn-brook
Observer, 2787 Long
Beach Road, Oceanside,
(Continued on page 12)
LEO CLUB OFFICERS RECEIVE PINS. The current
leaders of the Leo Club were awarded their ofHcers pins
at a recent meeting by President Edward Nasierowski (3rd
left) of the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Lions Club, sponsor
of the Leos. Shown in the photo (l-r) are Denise Waring,
president; Bridget Falk, secretary; Lion Ed Nasierowski;
Naomi Gelfand, vice president; Kimberly McKnight, vice
president; and Susan Weissman, LSHS Leo Advisor. Not
pictured are Leo Treasurer Jennifer Regan and Lion Roy
Solace, Lions' Liaison Officer to the Leo Club, which has
now given 17 years of service to the Lynbrook community.