Politics

Donald Trump, Health, Politics

Nydia Velazquez fights Trumpism, by George Fiala

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez has been busier than usual during this first month of this Trump administration. On February 19, as the Republicans in Congress began hashing out a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), she hosted a media event at Manhattan’s Gouverneur Hospital.  Velazquez was joined by fellow legislators Hakeem Jeffries, Joe Crowley, Jerry Nadler and Jo Ann Simon. […]

Op Ed, Politics

A call to remove the ban, by Jeremy McCool

A Call to Remove the Ban: As many of you know, HEVO employs people from all walks of life. We are represented by Jews, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists and other religious belief systems throughout our small 15 person company. As I write this, I am pained to be planning the loss of our CTO (Chief Technology Officer), because […]

Column, Politics

Column: Gaining Yards, by Michael Racioppo

In a few Sundays, millions of us will shout out at the television insistantly “Move the Chains” as our football teams – in my case the Giants – advance for a first down on their march down field to hopefully put points on the board. At the risk of flooding the zone with sports metaphors and alienating those who don’t […]

Column, Politics

Mark’s Corner: Nydia’s passion and engagement a stark contrast to supposed opponent, by Mark Shames

On January 21st I attended a meeting of my old political club the Independent Neighborhood Democrats.  The draw for that meeting was an opportunity to hear from our sitting Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez and Yvette Clarke.  We thought we would hear from Nydia’s primary challenger the banker and former deputy superintendent of the NYS Banking Department Mr. Yungman Lee, but he […]

Felix Ortiz, Politics

A chat with Felix Ortiz, Red Hook’s representative in the NY State Assembly

Felix Ortiz has represented Red Hook and Sunset Park in the NY State Assembly for over 20 years. Last year, following the removal of Sheldon Silver as Assembly Speaker, Ortiz became the Assistant Speaker for the new Assembly leader Carl Heastie. We have gotten to know Felix well over the past five years publishing the Star-Revue, as well as his […]

Politics, Real Estate, Sandy Related

CB 6 votes against proposed Red Hook nursing home, by George Fiala

The Oxford Nursing Home proposal for a zoning change (ULURP) in Red Hook received a setback at the December 3 meeting of Community Board 6’s (CB6) landmark/land use committee. A motion against the plan was passed 11-5, with one abstention. On December 9th, the full CB6 board will meet at Borough Hall for a final vote. It then travels to […]