Holy Frick!!! How amazing is it that an 11 year old girl won the OVERALL 5K women's prize?!?!?! You rock Natalie!!!

NC, Understood. I was asking if not hiring Rye residents was official policy in Rye. Is Franco on the air?

Need Change, Is this the RPD official policy or just the way it has shaken out? Connors might have brought the NYPD policy over that forbids officers from working in the precinct in which they reside. You are correct -- this has good/bad points. In the end, as long as the officers are qualified and take pride in what they do, it isn't the worst thing that has happened in Rye.

I posted this yesterday but it somehow "disappeared:" Why do I not think this is really Andrew posting?

Another hijacked thread...

Jay, what are you basing your headline on? Did Joe recently confirm that he is running? P.S. I think he would make a good mayor; I hope he does run.

Jim, you posted this: "This was sent to me from a Rye resident: Couldn't three cops do it as an hour OT at the end of their 12-8 tour? That way there would be no need to answer a call. the 8-4 tour would respond. The schools could be a steady OT detail. Like Parade duty in NY - you're not otherwise "on the clock" - you don't get called away to catch cases. Where does he get the thousands of dollars a day in OT? Wouldn't it be like 100-120 per cop?" I was just answering your post, right?

Jim & Need Change, If you look at the RPD contract, if an officer is required to work OT, they get a MINIMUM four hours -- regardless of how many hours they work. The actual time working is at "time and a half" and the time not working is 'straight time." So assuming $50/hour, the first hour is $75 and the other three are $150, so each officer will cost Rye $225 to do crossing guard duty for one hour. Three officers in the AM and three in the afternoon and you are looking at $1,350 per day BEFORE benefits, payroll tax, etc. [My original estimate called for four officers, so that is where I got $1,000 for the AM.] So you are looking at a quarter million dollars in OT. Again, this doesn’t include benefits, payroll taxes, etc. As I stated in my first post, I believe that you cannot put a price tag on the safety of our children, but this is a big nut. Crossing guards would be a more cost-efficient solution. But again – there is a lot of money in Rye, maybe the residents wouldn’t mind paying for this to not only have the traffic-safety component, but also a police presence at each elementary school.

Jim, if there are only two or three RMP’s on patrol at any given time, you would not be able to cover three school crossings. There is always going to be a radio run for the 30-45 minutes the officer is assigned to the school. I’m not sure that I would be comfortable with sometimes the officer is there and sometimes he/she is not. That is not the way to resolve this issue. Also, to ask RPD to always have the ‘normal’ on-duty officers at the school during the start/end of the school day (unless there is an incident somewhere else) is not feasible. You need to patrol the entire city to ensure the safety of all residents. In my mind, you either employ full-time crossing guards or have officers in addition to those on patrol. And just to add a little salt to the wound, I realized after my initial post this morning that my OT figure is just for one shift. It would cost the city approximately $3,000/day to have three officers for both the start and end of the school day. My original estimate was for four officers but only one shift. We really could use Franco or someone else from RPD to let us know how many officers would be required to staff the three schools, and if they would be pulled from an assignment or called in on OT.

Jim, first off let me state unequivocally that I believe that you cannot put a price on ensuring the safety of our children. As was stated on a post below, Rye typically deploys only two or three patrol cars (“prowlers” for the oldtimers, “RMP’s” for the newer guys) on any given shift (Franco – can you confirm?). To place an officer at each school would require a minimum of four officers. While they would only be required to be on post for less than an hour, this will approach almost $1,000 a day in OT. You wouldn’t want to have the regularly-scheduled officers performing these duties, because if a radio run comes in, they would need to leave their post. At 180 school days, you are looking at a substantial increase in OT costs (please see my first sentence again!). The residents of Rye need to decide how to approach this. With the state-mandated tax caps, you will most likely need to reduce services or eliminate positions. Rye has already trimmed its budget, so it may be difficult to make substantial cuts elsewhere. I believe that Rye can exceed the cap if the residents approve it via a referendum (tedc – is that true?). Either way, a solution needs to be found. And soon!

Jim, I am actually surprised that he responded with that. If I was in his position, I would have responded that any information related to possible on-going operations is privileged and confidential, and as such cannot be disclosed. What prompted your e-mail?

Jim, the article says you can call Franco. For more information please go to our website RYEPBA.ORG or call the number below. Thank you, Franco Compagnone President: Rye PBA 914-557-2922

tedc, I don't know what rye train station you were at this morning, but I have to disagree with you. I too was there about 8AM and the lots were approximately half full!

Deirdre, I rarely visit RTP in the off-season, so I am not sure what you mean by the park is "sorely neglected." What other issues are there that were not in your video? And I'm glad to hear that the issues you pointed out are scheduled to be corrected.

I don't mean to be flip about this, but times are hard and things aren't going to be perfect. The light bulbs can be changed in a morning or afternoon, and should be as the lights are needed to ensure safety at night. The lights in the bathrooms should also be taken care of. Either just turn the switches off, or if they are hardwired into other services, then just unscrew the bulbs until late springtime. Yeah, the bench can also be moved, but that is minor right now. Ditto the sign. Prop it up temporarily until the ground is softer and resources are available. I’m sure Jim and tedc and others could each list ten bigger/more important items to be taken care of than the signs. Again, times are not great right now. Divman is disgusted at the amount of taxes we pay. Deidre is upset workers were let go. Someone is going to be unhappy. But when you are trying to cut back on expenses, services are (usually) reduced. If you feel that town workers are not working hard enough, then be prepared to back that up. As for waste, there is waste in every level of private and public projects. Basically, I am more worried about the roads/sidewalks, crossing guards, etc. For the amount of taxes we are paying, you would think that all of these issues could be addressed. But alas, it doesn’t seem to be enough. I am sure that tedc has gone thru the budget with a fine-tooth comb. I would defer to him as to what areas can easily be cut. [This is where Jim chimes in “Yeah – start with the City Manager’s position!” just kidding jim…just kidding.] And finally…don’t send the video to Rye Town. Draft an e-mail that can be read in a minute and easily passed on. Watching a nine-minute video to say light bulbs are out and there is a bench on the beach is not productive.

Not any weapon, but most handguns (see also H.R. 218). But there is not a "license" that can be FOIL'ed. so you wouldn't see one on the list.

Jim, police officers do not have CCP, so they would not be on the list.

Jim, I agree with you regarding the use of the word 'death' after what happened a week ago. I think what Jay was doing was a play on the phrase "Death & Taxes." I also think that the Mayor does not have anything to do with the headlines Jay creates. Ultimately it is up to Jay whether to change the headline or not. His blog -- his rules. But to delete your post requesting the change is, in my opinion, wrong. He should have explained why he chose to not change the headline, or at the very least, left your post up. Keep fighting the good fight!

Can you post the e-mail Scott sent?

Bob, are you sure they were Rye police cars? Every time I have passed there they are MTA police. There RMP's are silver. And as an aside, before anyone starts commenting how these officers are there doing nothing, they are being paid by the contractor, not Rye or MTA police. There is a state law that mandates that certain construction jobs must have police officers on site to provide safety for the workers. Also, the wages that the officers receive are not pensionable -- that is, it does not count towards their pension calculation. And to close, I am shocked that we cannot reel in these bicyclists. As I posted a few months ago when Jim brought this to light, I would just stop the pack next Sunday, explain the law and consequences, and then tell them next week all V&T laws will be fully enforced.

Ted, if you look on the Rye city website, they have all of the budgets there for the last few years. Page 3-21 will show you what the budgeted amounts were, included the proposed 2013 amount. http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/rye/published_documents/Budget/2013%20Proposed%20Annual%20Budget.pdf I thought this would have been the first place you would have looked.

Deirdre, I share your frustration (as do many of us) but as you stated in the end of your (R-rated) video, Con Ed has a shortage of poles and transformers. It is possible that instead of having crews stand by and wait for supplies, they are dispatched to take care of 'quick fixes.' Also, since the number of outages has decreased (maybe not in Rye), some crews are available to start doing the smaller jobs. I hope that not only you get your power back soon, but that todays storm doesn't cause anymore grief.

My bad Bob/Steve. Now I understand what they mean by 'private.'

Definitely not allowed if one supervises the other. Keep in mind that the officers are represented by a quasi-union, so I can see the PBA supporting the officers if they feel no conflict exists.

Bob, I never heard of it, but I'll assume they belong to a supplier. I'm sure Con Ed does not "grow their own" and therefore must, like all other utilities, purchase poles from suppliers. There is a chance that these poles are destined for upstate, NJ, etc. Perhaps the supplier is 'staging' them there in case they are needed by their customers. As for Steve's comment, uhhh -- are you saying Con Ed should steal them? Ok...