Politics on the Hudson

Today is my final day at The Journal News and this is my final post on Politics on the Hudson.

Let me just take a moment to say what a great experience it’s been to report on and write about the people, politics and government of the Lower Hudson Valley. I take with me a treasure of memories that’s far too lengthy to list.

And as a member of the crew that helped get Politics on the Hudson started, it has been especially rewarding to see this blog grow and watch its audience expand. I have enjoyed reading the comments – even the negative ones!

To all the people I have covered and to all the readers to who took the time to look in on what I was doing – I offer my thanks!

Glenn Blain

Less than two weeks after he underwent coronary bypass surgery, Westchester Board of Legislators Chairman Bill Ryan briefly returned to work this morning, board officials said.

Ryan, a White Plains Democrat, visited the board’s offices on the 8th floor of the Michaelian Office Building and even took his customary seat at the weekly meeting of the Board of Acquisition and Contract.

There’s no word, however, whether Ryan will oversee Tuesday’s night’s meeting of the full board – the first since he underwent bypass surgery on June 23.

The proposed social host law now working its way through the Westchester Board of Legislators, which would make it a crime for adults to knowingly host a party where alcohol is served to underage drinkers, has gained some important support — the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police.

In a statement, the association urges the board to pass the bill and offers kudos to its sponsor, Legislator James Maisano, R-New Rochelle.

“The social host law plugs a loophole in the penal and (Alchohol Beverage Control) laws by allowing law enforcement to cite those who knowingly provide a venue for underage drinking,” the statement said.

The Board of Legislators is expected to take up the bill again Tuesday night and hold an additional public hearing on the measure on Aug. 11th.

Lila Kirton, the White Plains attorney who reportedly engaged in an extramarital affair with Gov. David Paterson, has left her state government job, according to a report in  the Daily News this morning.

Kirton, who has remained virtually out of sight in recent months, worked for now-disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer during his tenure as attorney general and followed him to the executive branch. However, soon after Paterson took office in March, she was identified by sources as having had an affair with Paterson.

How’s this for an interesting dinner trio?

Bill and Hillary Clinton joined Rep. Nita Lowey for a meal at X2O Xaviars on the Hudson in Yonkers last night.

“It was a friendly, social dinner,” said Nina Blackwell, a spokeswoman Sen. Hillary Clinton. She declined to provide further details about the outing.

Lowey, a Harrison Democrat, was key supporter and fundrasier for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.  Her congressional district also includes the Clinton’s hometown of Chappaqua.

X2O, for those unaware, is chef Peter X. Kelley’s trendy new restaurant along the Yonkers waterfront. It’s opening was hailed by city Mayor Phil Amicone as evidence of Yonkers’ continuing turnaround.

Not everybody is winding down, getting ready for the 4th of July holiday.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, announced today that his Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions will join with two other Assembly committees for a public hearing Wednesday on how the New York City Industrial Development Authority handled the financing for the new Yankee Stadium.

The new Yankee Stadium project, according to Brodsky’s press release, was granted $942 million in tax exempt financing in 2006 but is now seeking as much as $366 million.

“The law requires a clear public benefit when tax free bonds are used,” said Brodsky, who chairs the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions. “We will be examining what benefits exist, if any, who made these decisions and what the public cost will be, at a time of shortage of public dollars and escalating ticket prices.”

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. at 250 Broadway in Manhattan.

Republican state Senate candidate Liz Feld hits the airwaves today with the first commercial of her campaign against incumbent Democrat Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer.

The 30-second spot, which focuses on tax relief, is airing on local cable channels.

“Westchester County has everything that anyone could ever ask for,” says Feld, the mayor of Larchmont. “But right now, Westchester is suffering from the highest tax burden in the country. Who’s sticking up for Westchester? Who’s up in Albany fighting for us? ”

The 37th State Senate district includes portions of Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Chappaqua, New Castle, North Castle, Port Chester, White Plains, Rye, Rye Brook, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, Scarsdale, and New Rochelle.

The Westchester Board of Legislators just issued the following statement concerning Chairman Bill Ryan, a White Plains Democrat.

“Legislator Bill Ryan, Chairman for the Westchester County Board of Legislators, was released from the hospital this weekend after undergoing heart bypass surgery last week. He has returned home and is said to be making a steady recovery.

“The Ryan family extends its thanks for the many expressions of comfort and well-wishing during this time. ”

Westchester Republicans today announced their candidate to take on Assemblywoman Amy Paulin in the 88th Assembly District — it’s Anthony Pilla, a 39-year-old Realtor from White Plains who ran unsuccessfully for City Council a year ago.

Pilla, in a telephone interview a few moments ago, said he was undaunted by the district’s heavy Democratic registration numbers and planned to make property tax relief the focal point of his candidacy.

“If we don’t do something about it, we are just killing ourselves,” Pilla said.

The 88tht Assembly district includes the cities, towns and villages of White Plains, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Scarsdale, Pelham and Pelham Manor. Paulin is a Democrat from Scarsdale.

Sen. Charles Schumer is already looking ahead to 2009 and the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage up Hudson River (of course, it wasn’t called the Hudson River back then).

Schumer, a Democrat and New York’s senior senatoor, sent a letter to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, formally extending an invitation for her to attend any one of the several anniversary events now being planned.

“Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1609 shaped and defined New York State as we know it today,” Schumer said in a press release. ““While Henry Hudson might not have found that southwest passage to the East he was searching for, he achieved something much more valuable: creating a Dutch presence in the New World, centered in what is now New York State. In light of the legacy of New York’s Dutch history—captured in the Hudson River and places like Haarlem, the Kaatskills, Fort Orange, Jonkheers, and Governor’s Island—having Her Majesty’s presence in the Hudson Valley for our celebration would be a true honor.”

Festivities, which are set for September and October of 2009, are being planned by a special commission that was created by Gov. David Paterson. Events include a parade of ships, including a replica of Hudson’s Halve Maen; a Four Freedoms Award ceremony at the home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a parade at the United States Military Academy at West Point,